[12] Davutoğlu's administration oversaw an escalation of conflict between the government and the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) after a two-year ceasefire broke down in mid-2015, with his premiership being described as the 'bloodiest' in Turkey's history.

[13] His government originally authorised airstrikes against both PKK and Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) positions on 20 July after a suicide bombing killed 32 people in the southeastern town of Suruç.

The government's offensive against ISIL suffered sustained criticism by allies such as the United States over Turkey's lack of action against the group, though the political opposition accused Davutoğlu of sparking the conflict deliberately to win back votes and regain a parliamentary majority in the November 2015 snap election.

His government also presided over the ongoing political conflict with the Gülen Movement and the spillover effects of the Syrian Civil War across the border with Turkey, as well as the European migrant crisis that emerged as a result.

[citation needed] His publications include Alternative Paradigms: The Impact of Islamic and Western Weltanschauungs on Political Theory, The Civilizational Transformation and The Muslim World in English, Stratejik Derinlik (Strategic Depth), and Küresel Bunalım (The Global Crisis) in Turkish.

[24] Davutoğlu's professor[25] and close adviser of former President Turgut Özal, Greek geopolitician Dimitri Kitsikis is considered in fact to have had a decisive influence, precisely on this geopolitical theory.

[27] The notion of pan-Islamism is critical of Turkey's attempts to integrate with western nations, and advocates a union within the Middle East in order to increase regional strength and unity between peoples.

[44] His failures are mostly associated with Turkey's policy on the Syrian Civil War, attempts to increase political influence over former Ottoman states and his controversial stance against Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi who took power in 2014.

[62] In 2013, Davutoğlu brought a possible two-state solution of the Cyprus dispute to Greek Foreign Minister Dimitris Avramopoulos after controversy erupted over the ownership of offshore oil reserves.

[75] Relations in regards to Syria improved in 2013, with Davutoğlu and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif jointly calling for a ceasefire ahead of the January 2014 Geneva peace talks.

In 2014, Davutoğlu visited northern Iraq and met regional President Massoud Barzani multiple times, stating that Turkey sought closer ties with the KRG in terms of diplomatic relations as well as oil trade.

[96] With Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan taking a strong anti-Israel stance during the 2014 Israel-Gaza conflict, Davutoğlu pursued a policy of active participation, providing humanitarian assistance to Gaza.

[108] With Turkey taking a pro-opposition stance throughout the Syrian Civil War in contrast to Russia's support of Bashar al-Assad, Davutoğlu has been at odds with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

[111] Davutoğlu has supported the need for a peaceful resolution to the conflict in Ukraine and Crimea through diplomatic negotiations, and has raised concern over the treatments of Crimean Tatars by Russian armed forces.

[112] He also called for the Russians to lift the ban on Tatar leader and Ukrainian Member of Parliament Mustafa Dzhemilev's entrance to Crimea, the respect for international law and the union of Ukraine.

[118] Following a greatly improved security situation in Mogadishu in mid-2011, the Turkish government re-opened its foreign embassy with the intention of more effectively assisting in the post-conflict development process.

[125] Davutoğlu has supported the need to strengthen the rebels against Assad's regime, though his stance was complicated by the growing influence of Al-Qaeda related militant action within Syria as the civil war progressed.

[126] In a conference of Syria-bordering countries hosted in Jordan, Davutoğlu stated in May 2014 that Turkey had spent US$3 billion on maintaining refugee camps, and that the United Nations needed to do more to finance their upkeeping.

[130] Despite serving as foreign minister, Davutoğlu maintained an active and influential role in shaping domestic policy, especially in response to the 2013–14 protests in Turkey and the 2013 government corruption scandal.

[147] His initial nomination to lead the AKP on 21 August was welcomed by Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, who claimed that Davutoğlu was a very easy person to maintain dialogue with.

Marmara University Assistant Professor Yüksel Taskin is a proponent of this view, claiming that Davutoğlu has planned on becoming prime minister for over 20 years, which would make it seem unlikely that he would consent to acting as Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's puppet.

[citation needed] Davutoğlu has also aimed to reduce the country's dependency of foreign energy imports, and pledged to not pursue a populist economic agenda in the run-up to the June 2015 general election.

[163] On 2 September 2014, Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan announced a new policy to collect income data from citizens in order to apply different debt repayment opportunities in proportion to wages.

CHP leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu claimed that Davutoğlu had been appointed as prime minister by Erdoğan in order to end the corruption investigations dating from the 17 December 2013 scandal.

[citation needed] Davutoğlu subsequently promised to review laws regarding workplace safety and implement regulations more carefully, though the alleged links between the owner of the construction site and the AKP also resulted in sharp criticism.

[194][195] Despite having the constitutional right, the chairing of a cabinet meeting by a President was a rare ordeal in Turkish history, with the opposition demanding a legitimate reason for why Erdoğan felt the need to do so.

An anonymous list produced by Erdoğan supporters on a WordPress blog, named the Pelican files, detailed 27 different sources of disagreements between the Prime Minister and President and caused their relations to significantly deteriorate publicly.

[citation needed] Shortly after the meeting, it was announced that the AKP would hold an Extraordinary Congress in late May and that Davutoğlu would not stand as a candidate, confirming that a last-minute agreement between the two men had not been reached.

[211] The main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) referred to the resignation as the '4 May Palace Coup', claiming that Erdoğan had toppled a Prime Minister who had been elected for a four-year term just seven months before with 49.5% of the vote.

[218] Following Davutoğlu's resignation, Erdoğan made a statement criticising the European Union and stated that Turkey would not change their anti-terror laws in return for visa-free entry to Schengen Area, again causing negotiations for EU membership to stall.