Former Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu announced on Wednesday that he is leaving politics and is dissolving his failing Future Party. However, it failed to become a popular choice among conservative and Islamist voters, who are seen as the bastion of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling Justice and Development Party, AKP. Davutoglu saw the Balkans as a “natural and historical hinterland” for Turkish foreign policy given the strong bonds forged through centuries of Ottoman domination. Davutoglu founded the Future Party mainly with former AKP figures in a bid to challenge the President. Despite his fading career in politics, Davutoglu still sounded a proud note.