Turkey ruling party 'to hold congress May 22, PM won't seek new mandate'

Turkey's outgoing Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu previously served as foreign minister from 2009 to 2014

Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) will hold an extraordinary congress on May 22 where Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu will not seek a new mandate as party chairman, local media reported on Thursday. A party executive committee meeting, which came after talks Wednesday between Davutoglu and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, decided to hold a party congress on May 22 to pick a new leader who according to party convention would also serve as premier, CNN-Turk and NTV television reported.