Erdogan begins third presidential term in front of at least 60 leaders of nations

First modification: 06/03/2023 – 16:14

Today, Saturday, June 3, Erdogan swore the oath before the acting president of Parliament, the ultranationalist Devlet Bahçeli, who has held this position since the Legislature was constituted yesterday, for being the oldest deputy.

After the obligatory visit to the mausoleum of the founder of the Turkish republic, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, Erdogan went to the presidential palace, to proceed to the inauguration ceremony, in the presence of some thirty foreign heads of state and government.

“As president, I swear to protect the existence and independence of the state, the integrity of the homeland, the unconditional sovereignty of the nation, the rule of law (and) the principle of a secular republic” as conceived by Atatürk, the “father of the Turks”, declared the president known for defending Islamo-conservative positions.

Among the guests are, as confirmed by the Turkish public broadcaster TRT, the president of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro; the one from Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev; and that of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa; as well as the Prime Minister of Hungary, Viktor Orbán; and the one from Armenia, Nikol Pashinián, whose country is in a difficult process of reconciliation with Turkey.

The event began with a parade of horsemen and the firing of 101 cannons, and will last until the afternoon, when Erdogan will meet with his team to outline the new cabinet of ministers, which will be announced at 10:00 p.m. (7:00 p.m. GMT). ), according to the scheduled schedule.

Erdogan has led Turkey since 2003, first as prime minister and then, since 2014, as president, a position that since a referendum in 2017 combines the functions of head of state and head of government.

This year, for the first time, there was a second round in these elections. Recep Tayyip Erdogan obtained 52.18% of the votes against 47.82% of his opponent, the Social Democrat Kemal Kiliçdaroglu, according to official results published this Thursday, at the end of a campaign that has left the country polarized.

political plays

The list of ministers, which will be announced at night, will show the guidelines adopted by the Head of State to redirect the economy in crisis.

For a few days now, the name of a renowned expert has been circulating, Mehmet Simsek, 56, who was former Minister of Finance (2009-2015) and Deputy Prime Minister in charge of the Economy (until 2018). The former Merrill Lynch economist would be in charge of restoring a bit of orthodoxy to gain investor confidence, despite inflation above 40%.

The configuration of the parliament, which was installed in Ankara on Friday and was elected on May 14, at the same time as the first round of the presidential elections, is also important. There the president’s AKP party and his allies hold the majority of the 600 seats there.

The conservatives sit in a good place, both on the side of the government (with the ultranationalist MHP) and the opposition, with the Good Party, a circumstantial ally for the presidential election of Kemal Kiliçdaroglu.

With information from EFE and Reuters