Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who officially began his third presidential term on Saturday, has reappointed an internationally respected former banker as the finance minister, signaling a potential shift towards more conventional economic policies in his new government.
At the age of 69, Erdogan took the oath of office after winning a new five-year term in a runoff presidential race, extending his rule of 20 years in the strategically significant NATO country that spans Europe and Asia.
When unveiling his new Cabinet, Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced the reappointment of Mehmet Simsek as the head of the economy. Simsek, a former finance minister and deputy prime minister, is an esteemed figure who previously served as a banker at Merrill Lynch in London. After a five-year hiatus from politics, he returns to the Cabinet as the treasury and finance minister.
This appointment comes amid Turkey’s struggle with a cost-of-living crisis driven by high inflation, which peaked at a staggering 85% in October before easing to 44% last month.
Turkish currency
The Turkish currency has also experienced a depreciation of more than 10% against the dollar since the beginning of the year. Critics argue that Erdogan’s policy of lowering interest rates to stimulate growth, contrary to conventional economic wisdom that advocates raising rates to combat inflation, is responsible for the ongoing turmoil.
Simsek’s reappointment is seen as an indication that Erdogan might shift away from the unorthodox policies that many economists have criticized.
In other appointments, Erdogan named Hakan Fidan, who has been heading Turkey’s National Intelligence Agency (MIT) since 2010, as the foreign minister. Fidan, a former soldier with a doctorate in international relations, replaces Mevlut Cavusoglu, who held the position since 2014.
Erdogan also announced that Gen. Yasar Guler, the chief of the military staff, would take on the role of defense minister.
Earlier, numerous foreign dignitaries, including NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and Carl Bildt, a prominent former Swedish prime minister, attended Erdogan’s inauguration ceremony at the expansive presidential complex in Ankara. Sweden hopes to persuade Erdogan to lift Turkey’s objections to its membership in the military alliance, which requires unanimous approval from all allies.
