TURKEY: POLITICS - Turks prepare for new cabinet after Tayyip Erdogan sworn in as President

Record ID: 217758

  • Title: TURKEY: POLITICS - Turks prepare for new cabinet after Tayyip Erdogan sworn in as President
  • Date: 29th August 2014
  • Summary: ISTANBUL, TURKEY (AUGUST 29, 2014) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF NEWSPAPER STAND
  • Embargoed: 13th September 2014 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Turkey
  • Country: Turkey
  • Topics: Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVACU0LC42AL18QNKAR29OZWJSR5
  • Story Text: Turkey's new Prime Minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, will announce his cabinet on Friday (August 29), a day after Tayyip Erdogan was sworn in as president, with the new government not expected to signal any major changes in policy direction.
    Davutoglu was scheduled to arrive at the presidential palace to present the list to Erdogan at 11:30 am (0830 GMT). He will hold a news conference an hour later to announce the names, his office said on its website.
    The current economic team, including Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan and Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek, is expected to remain largely intact. EU minister Mevlut Cavusoglu is seen as leading contender for foreign minister.
    Erdogan aide Yalcin Akdogan was also expected to take up a position in cabinet, possibly as a deputy prime minister.
    Erdogan, who had been prime minister since 2003, was sworn in as president on Thursday, cementing his position as Turkey's most powerful leader of recent times, in a step opponents fear heralds more authoritarian rule.

    "The doors of Great Turkey have been opened," the main headline in the newspaper Sabah said on Friday, praising the transfer of power along with other pro-government newspapers.
    But Sozcu a newspaper fiercely critical of Erdogan, declared "He made an oath he won't keep," referring to his pledge in parliament to remain bound to the secular principles of the modern republic's founder, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.
    One Istanbul resident said she was wary of Erdogan taking on so much power.

    "Why do they keep talking about a 'New Turkey'? Is there a Turkey that is better than the one Ataturk founded? I am definitely against this and I am not pleased at all," said Tamam Cetinkaya Erdogan's opponents warn that his roots in Islamist politics mean his move to the presidency will bring widening religious influence in public life.
    Victory in Turkey's first popular presidential election this month gave a him a fresh mandate to push on with what he sees as a historic mission to transform Turkey domestically and as a regional power.
    Erdogan has made clear he plans to establish an executive presidential system, expanding the role's current powers.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2014. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register