An internationally respected former banker gets the top job in the economy, the powerful intelligence chief is appointed foreign minister.
Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan appointed former finance chief and internationally respected banker Mehmet Simsek as finance and finance minister as he unveiled his new cabinet.
Erdogan, who was sworn in to his third presidential term on Saturday, changed almost all members of his cabinet except for the ministers of health and culture.
Simsek was highly regarded by investors when he served as finance minister from 2009 to 2015 and deputy prime minister in charge of the economy until 2018, before resigning before a series of lira declines that year.
His appointment could mark a departure from years of unorthodox economic policies under Erdogan, which have included keeping interest rates low despite soaring inflation and strong state control of markets.
Simsek, a former Merrill Lynch economist, is known for opposing Erdogan’s unconventional policies.
Turkey is grappling with a cost-of-living crisis and inflation spiked to 85 percent in October before declining to 44 percent in May. The currency has lost more than 10 percent of its value against the dollar since the beginning of the year.
Hakan Fidan, Erdogan’s intelligence chief and a former soldier, has been appointed as the new foreign minister, replacing Mevlut Cavusoglu, who has held the post since 2014.
One of Erdogan’s closest aides, Fidan has headed the National Intelligence Organization (MIT) since 2010, and before that he was an adviser to Erdogan in the prime minister’s office.
In 2012, Fidan was the subject of an investigation, later dropped, into secret peace talks MIT had held with the outlaw. Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) armed group in Oslo.
Yasar Guler, chief of the general staff of the Turkish armed forces, was announced as defense minister, replacing Hulusi Akar. The 69-year-old was the military chief during Turkey’s military incursions into Syria in 2019 and 2020, also overseeing subsequent military operations there and in Iraq.
Erdogan also announced that Cevdet Yilmaz will be his vice president. Yilmaz previously served as development minister, vice president for economic affairs of Erdogan’s Adalet ve Kalkınma Party (Justice and Development Party, AK Party), and deputy prime minister in charge of the economy.
Yilmaz, 56, has been the chairman of the Turkish Parliament’s Planning and Budget Commission since November 2020.
Here is a full list of Erdogan’s new cabinet:
- vice president: Cevdet Yilmaz
- foreign minister: Hakan Fidan
- Minister of Treasury and Finance: Mehmet Simsek
- Minister of Defense: Yasar Guler
- Minister of interior: Ali Yerlikaya
- Minister of Education: Yusuf Tekin
- Justice minister: Yilmaz Tunc
- Minister of Family and Social Services: Mahinur Ozdemir Goktas
- Minister of Labor and Social Security: Vedat Isikhan
- Minister of the Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change: Mehmet Ozhaseki
- Minister of Energy and Natural Resources: Alparslan Bayraktar
- Minister of Youth and Sports: Osman Askin Bak
- Minister of Culture and Tourism: Mehmet Nuri Ersoy
- Health Minister: Fahrettin Koca
- Minister of Industry and Technology: Mehmet Fatih Kacir
- Minister of Agriculture and Forestry: Ibrahim Yumakli
- Minister of Commerce: Omer Bolat
- Minister of Transport and Infrastructure: Abdulkadir Uraloglu
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