Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has announced his new cabinet after winning a third term in elections in May, including new heads of the economy and foreign ministries.
According to the news agency Reuters, among the important figures included in the new Turkish cabinet announced on Saturday is Hakan Fidan, who has been given the position of Foreign Minister.
Hakan Fidan has been appointed foreign minister to replace Mevlut Cavusoglu, one of Turkey’s longest-serving senior diplomats.
Hakan Fidan, one of Erdogan’s closest aides, has been the head of the National Intelligence Organization (MIT) since 2010 and previously served as an adviser to Erdogan in the Prime Minister’s Office.
Hakan Fidan was a non-commissioned officer in the Turkish Army from 1986 to 2001 and administrator of the Turkish Development and Cooperation Agency from 2003 to 2007.
In 2012, Hakan Fidan was also the subject of an inquiry into secret peace talks that MIT held in Oslo with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) militant group, which was later dropped.
According to Forbes, Hakan Fidan’s appointment is not just a bureaucratic reshuffle, but a clear message to every external stakeholder, from the US to the EU and Russia to the tangled politics of the Middle East.
For years, Hakan Fidan was involved in international affairs due to his intelligence portfolio, making him a key figure in the country’s political scene.
Fedan will now put his name on the papers he initiated, endorsing the actions he initiated, bridging the gap between intelligence gathering and policymaking.
Details of other key figures in the cabinet announced on Saturday are as follows:
Yasser Geller – Minister of Defense
Yasir Guler has been appointed as the Defense Minister. Yasir Guler, 69, has served in the armed forces for 49 years. He has been the Chief of General Staff since 2018.
Ali Yerlikaya – Minister of Interior
Ali Yerlikaya has been appointed as the Minister of Interior to replace Suleiman Soylu, who has been the Minister of Interior since 2018. Ali Yerlikaya has been the governor of Istanbul since 2018.
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Ali Yerlikaya, 55, previously served as the governor of Ghazi Antap, Tekirdag, Agri and Sarnak provinces.
Muhammad Simsek – Finance Minister
Former head of economy Mohammad Simsek has been appointed as finance minister. He has served as Finance Minister and Deputy Prime Minister between 2009 and 2018. His appointment is seen as a departure from the unconventional policy of years of low interest rates despite high inflation and heavy state control of markets.
Syedite Elms – Vice President
Conservative economic manager Suedet Elms has been named vice president.
He has previously served as Development Minister, AK Party Vice Chairman of Economic Affairs and Deputy Prime Minister in charge of Economy. Yelms, 56, has been the chairman of the Turkish Parliament’s Planning and Budget Commission since November 2020.