Ankara
Erdogan brings respected economists into the new cabinet
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan takes the oath. photo
© Presidential Office of Türkiye/dpa
More than 30 heads of state attended Erdogan’s swearing-in as president. He then presented his new cabinet. Among them the respected economist Simsek.
After being sworn in as President of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan reshuffled most of his cabinet. Erdogan appointed the economist Mehmet Simsek, who is respected in the financial markets, as finance minister. Erdogan’s longtime confidante, secret service chief Hakan Fidan, will become the new foreign minister. Mevlut Cavusoglu, who has been Turkey’s foreign minister for almost a decade, is no longer part of the new cabinet.
Turkey is currently struggling with massive inflation of officially around 44 percent. Experts also blame Erdogan’s policy, which has so far held on to low interest rates, contrary to economic logic, in order to combat inflation. Simsek, on the other hand, is considered a representative of an orthodox financial and economic policy – it is expected that he will give up the controversial low-interest policy. Simsek was previously finance minister under Erdogan, but was dismissed in 2018 after the transition to the presidential system.
Erdogan also appointed chief of staff Yasar Güler as defense minister, and the new interior minister is former Istanbul governor Ali Yerlikaya. The only woman in the cabinet is the new family minister, Mahinur Özdemir Göktas.
Erdogan was confirmed as president in a runoff election last Sunday with a good 52 percent of the vote. By May 14, his Islamic conservative AK party and its partners had already won a majority in parliament. The election was considered unfair because of the AKP’s and Erdogan’s control over state resources and the country’s media.