Turkeys ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) has met to approve Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu as the new party chairman and prime minister-designate.Davutoglu will be approved at a special AKP congress at an Ankara sports arena on Wednesday evening.
Sources say the congress is a largely ceremonial affair with Davutoglu the only candidate for premier after his candidacy was agreed by the party's executive committee last week.
Davutoglu will become the next chairman of the ruling party and will be tasked with forming the new government.
He will replace outgoing Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Davutoglu was personally handpicked by Erdogan, who will be sworn in as president on Thursday.
"This is not a change of mission, it is just a change of names," Erdogan said in a speech in Ankara before heading into the congress, adding, "This is not a farewell. We will continue to serve our people from Edirne to Hakkari."
The developments come as Erdogan won the country's first direct presidential election with more than 51 percent of the vote. Erdogan will replace Abdullah Gul with whom he founded the AK Party.
The presidential post is ceremonial in Turkey, but Erdogan has promised to use his dormant powers, such as summoning and presiding over cabinet meetings.
Davutoglu has been Turkey's foreign minister since 2009, and previously served as the chief advisor to the premier. Media reports have tipped the head of Turkey's intelligence service Hakan Fidan as a possible new foreign minister.
By Press TV
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