ANKARA (Reuters) - A former prime minister and close ally of President Tayyip Erdogan strongly criticised the ruling AK Party on Monday, blaming policy changes and an alliance with nationalists for its poor performance in Turkey's local elections last month.
In his first major public challenge to Erdogan since leaving office three years ago, Ahmet Davutoglu, an AKP member, slammed the party's economic policies, media restrictions and the damage he said it had done to the separation of powers and to Turkey's institutions.