President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has announced the new ministers of his cabinet as Turkey officially switched to an executive presidency, Hurriyet daily news reports.
Erdoğan appointed Chief of General Staff Gen. Hulusi Akar as the new defense minister and his son-in-law Berat Albayrak as the Treasury and Finance Minister in a 16-seat surprise cabinet with not much known bureaucratic figures, hours after he was sworn into office on July 9.
Erdoğan’s vice president is Fuat Oktay, former undersecretary of the office of the prime minister, who is regarded as one of the architects of the bureaucratic and administrative transformation after the governmental system has been shifted into presidency through last year’s referendum.
Erdoğan opted to continue with current Justice Minister Abdülhamit Gül, Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu and Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu in the new cabinet.
These figures, along with Berat Albayrak, who will serve as the Treasury and Finance Minister, will have to resign from the Parliament to join the cabinet.
Mustafa Varank, one of closest aides of Erdoğan, will serve as the Industry and Development Minister in the new cabinet.