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Al-Monitor has published an article titled “Turkey’s 'Erdogan Problem'’’ by Tulin Daloglu. Given below is the abridged version of the article.

What Erdogan wants is to be the country’s first elected president under a presidential system — assigning the parliamentary system to the shelves of history. But it’s not happening. Although the parliament’s constitution drafting commission has shown some progress and agreed on 48 articles, the opposition Republican People’s Party, CHP, and Nationalist Movement Party, MHP, are adamant that AKP’s insistence on the presidential system is preventing the negotiations from moving forward constructively.

Many in Ankara’s political beltway, therefore, speculate that Turkey has an “Erdogan problem.” Some speculate that it will be best for Erdogan to backtrack from strictly following his party regulations for not running for office more than three times, and seek the prime minister’s post for a fourth time no matter what — as he is so confident that AKP will score a big victory again at the next general election scheduled for 2015.

Others, however, argue that the best way forward is to convince Erdogan to run for president under the current system, and allow Abdullah Gul, the president, to take over the prime minister’s office. While Gul’s becoming prime minister sounds like a more rational solution, the thing is that it also promises to be problematic.

First and foremost, Erdogan is not an easy character. There are already so many obscure rumors about these two men. If they become the country’s two highest-level elected officials, they may end up “not” finding ways to cover up the tension in their relationship any longer.

Whether it’s for real or not, many in Ankara’s political beltway are convinced that the Gezi Park protests have sharpened the division between Erdogan and Gul.

Turkey is a country full of surprises. AKP’s victory in the next general elections may also not be so certain.