BY DAILY SABAH
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced his brand new cabinet following his re-election in Türkiye’s May 28 runoff vote, with two ministers retaining their seats and many new faces to usher in a new era.
The head of the National Intelligence Organization (MIT) Hakan Fidan has replaced Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu as Foreign Minister, Erdoğan said, while former economy chief Mehmet Şimşek has become the new finance minister, in a much-anticipated decision.
Erdoğan named Cevdet Yılmaz as the new vice president, who would replace Fuat Oktay. He has not named any others in the position and will work with a single vice president.
Yılmaz Tunç has replaced Bekir Bozdağ as justice minister, while Chief of Staff Gen. Yaşar Güler replaced Hulusi Akar as Defense Minister.
Mahinur Özdemir, who served as Türkiye’s Ambassador to Algeria, was named as the country’s new Family and Social Policies Minister, replacing Derya Yanık.
Meanwhile, Ali Yerlikaya, who served as the Governor of Istanbul for five years, has become the new Interior Minister, replacing Süleyman Soylu.
Vedat Işıkhan has become the new Labor and Social Security Minister, Mehmet Özhaseki became the Environment, Urbanization, and Climate Change Minister, and Alparslan Bayraktar became the Energy and Natural Resources Minister.
Health Minister Fahrettin Koca and Culture and Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy retained their seats as ministers.
Here is a list of other ministers in the cabinet:
Youth and Sports Minister: Osman Aşkın Bak
National Education Minister: Yusuf Tekin
Industry and Technology Minister: Mehmet Fatih Kacir
Agriculture and Forestry Minister: Ibrahim Yumaklı
Trade Minister: Ömer Bolat
Transport and Infrastructure Minister: Abdulkadir Uraloğlu
Earlier on Saturday, the president said the cabinet would hold its first meeting on Tuesday.
Erdoğan was sworn in as the president and started his third and last term in Office.
In his victory speech late Sunday, Erdoğan vowed to set up reputable finance management, as he termed inflation Türkiye’s most urgent issue after the vote.
Markets are trying to gauge whether the reelected president will change course or double down on policies centered around cheaper borrowing costs to combat rising prices and stimulate economic growth.
Erdoğan has given little indication of any U-turn in the coming weeks and months, having repeatedly stressed that he would remain committed to his low interest-rate economic blueprint.
