Does Erdo?an hope to use Gül against Davuto?lu?

In a surprise move, Turkish President Tayyip Erdo?an told journalists on Friday that he would be happy if former President Abdullah Gül returned to the ranks of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Parti) for active politics. Erdo?an also added that last week the two had a telephone conversation.

The timing of Erdo?an?s remark is interesting: Just before Prime Minister Ahmet Davuto?lu?s return to the country from the U.S., where he tried his best to lure foreign investors to Turkey with the ?stability? card. By ?stability,? what Davuto?lu meant was the continuation of the AK Parti government under his leadership after the June 7 elections.

Reuters reported that Davuto?lu?s efforts to convince international investors did not impress them as much as the Turkish government desired. That is despite the sharp fall that the Turkish Lira continues to take against the U.S. dollar, which is advantageous to those who have dollars in their hands, but not necessarily to Turks who earn in liras and face rising inflation figures.

Up until Erdo?an?s remarks about Gül, Davuto?lu?s main concern when he returned home was to calm the markets from a rush to the dollar and addressing the Kurdish issue. While in New York he had a telephone conversation with Central Bank Governor Erdem Ba?ç? in Ankara to discuss the situation. Davuto?lu had the Deputy PM in charge of the economy, Ali Babacan, and Finance Minister Mehmet ?im?ek with him, as well as a conceptual program prepared for him for March 8 in ?anl?urfa (near the Syrian border) to announce plans to support the economic dimension of the desired Kurdish peace.

Now, after Erdo?an?s latest remarks about Gül, Davuto?lu has another issue to deal with. The relevance of the timing of his remarks comes...