Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has partially reshuffled his cabinet and signaled an economic turnaround. The economist Mehmet Şimşek is to head the finance department and get the country’s ailing economy back on track. Şimşek is highly respected on the financial markets and is considered a representative of the generally applicable rules of economic and financial policy. He was Finance Minister and Deputy Prime Minister between 2009 and 2018.
The appointment of Şimşek is likely to mean a departure from the economic course that has been rather unusual in Turkey up to now and does not correspond to general standards. Despite extremely high inflation, the central bank lowered interest rates instead of raising them in the fight against inflation.
The new Turkish Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek.
(Photo: UMIT BEKTAS/REUTERS)
Behind it is Erdoğan, who describes himself as an “interest enemy” and wants to use cheap money to boost the economy. As a result, the national currency, the lira, depreciated drastically, which in turn exacerbated the inflation problem. Turkey has to import many goods and raw materials, which are becoming more expensive due to the weak lira. Experts have warned the economy is headed for turmoil if current policies continue as its foreign exchange reserves are depleted.
Erdoğan will continue his authoritarian policies in his coming term
Former intelligence chief Hakan Fidan will become the new foreign minister in Erdogan’s cabinet. Fidan replaces Mevlut Çavuşoğlu at the post. Chief of Staff Yaşar Güler was appointed Defense Minister. The previous Istanbul governor Ali Yerlikaya is to act as the new interior minister.
Erdoğan, who has ruled for 20 years, had previously been sworn in for another term. The 69-year-old, who was partly behind in polls, got 52.2 percent of the votes in last weekend’s runoff. His five-year term will allow Erdoğan to continue his increasingly authoritarian policies. This polarized the country but strengthened Turkey’s position as a regional military power.
After the swearing-in in parliament, a ceremony took place in the presidential palace with high-ranking representatives from 78 countries and international organizations – including NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban.