Turkey: Erdogan replaces nearly all faces in cabinet with focus on economy, foreign policy

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan began his third decade in power by replacing almost all members of his erstwhile cabinet, except for the ministers for health and culture. The changes made, especially in foreign and finance portfolios, reflect the country's economic concerns and relations with the West as topping the re-elected president's agenda.

The incumbent president stretched his rule into his 21st year last Sunday after winning an unprecedented runoff vote against opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu.

Erdogan’s new cabinet: The foreign policy trajectory

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The president has named intelligence chief Hakan Fidan, also a former soldier, as the new foreign minister.

Fidan has been described as one of Erdogan’s closest aides. He headed the National Intelligence Organisation (MIT) since 2010 and before that was an adviser to Erdogan in the prime minister’s office.

Also watch | Turkey's Erdogan wins historic third term

Fidan is known to be an accommodative face towards the defiant pro-Kurdish groups in Turkey.

While the immediate concerns of the West have been towards breaking off Turkey's sustained resistance to Sweden's entry into the US-led NATO, Erdogan's choice of foreign minister reflects that his focus is more on concerns at home.

Erdogan’s new cabinet: The challenge to revamp economy

Erdogan has named ex-banker Mehmet Simsek as treasury and finance minister in his new cabinet. Simsek served as finance minister previously between 2009 and 2015 and was deputy prime minister in charge of the economy until 2018. Simsek is known to beopposed to Erdogan's policy of heavy state control of markets and maintaining low interest rates despite rising inflation. Turkey's inflation stood at a whopping 44 per cent in May while the Lira has lost more than 10 per cent of its value against the dollar since the beginning of 2023.

Shortly after winning country's first-ever presidential runoff vote last Sunday, Erdogan touched upon the central theme of the elections and said that his new administration will focus on bringing down inflation.

"The most urgent issue of the coming days is to eliminate the problems arising from the price increases caused by inflation and to compensate for welfare losses," the president said.

Erdogan's new cabinet: The full list

This is the full list of Erdogan’s new cabinet:

Vice President: Cevdet Yilmaz

Foreign Minister: Hakan Fidan

Treasury and Finance Minister: Mehmet Simsek

Defence Minister: Yasar Guler

Interior Minister: Ali Yerlikaya

Education Minister: Yusuf Tekin

Justice Minister: Yilmaz Tunc

Family and Social Services Minister: Mahinur Ozdemir Goktas

Labour and Social Security Minister: Vedat Isikhan

Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change Minister: Mehmet Ozhaseki

Energy and Natural Resources Minister: Alparslan Bayraktar

Youth and Sports Minister: Osman Askin Bak

Culture and Tourism Minister: Mehmet Nuri Ersoy

Health Minister: Fahrettin Koca

Industry and Technology Minister: Mehmet Fatih Kacir

Agriculture and Forestry Minister: Ibrahim Yumakli

Trade Minister: Omer Bolat

Transport and Infrastructure Minister: Abdulkadir Uraloglu

(With inputs from agencies)

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