Erdogan ally set to be appointed Turkey's new prime minister

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkey's ruling party held a special convention on Sunday to confirm a longtime ally of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as its new chairman and next prime minister, a move that is likely to consolidate the Turkish leader's hold on power.

Binali Yildirim, the transport and communications minister and a founding member of the governing Justice and Development Party, or AKP, is set to replace Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu who announced earlier this month that he is stepping down amid differences with Erdogan.

The change in party leadership comes at a time when NATO member Turkey is facing an array of security threats including renewed conflict with Kurdish rebels in the southeast, a wave of suicide bombings linked to Kurdish and Islamic State militants, as well as growing blowback from the war in neighboring Syria.

Davutoglu, a one-time adviser to Erdogan and a former foreign minister, fell out with the president over an array of issues including the possibility of peace talks with Kurdish rebels, the pre-trial detention of journalists accused of spying and academics accused of supporting terrorism.