Cabinet change to be announced after MGK
Güncelleme Tarihi:
Hürriyet Daily News
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Nisan 28, 2009 00:00
ANKARA - With today’s National Security Council, or MGK, meeting out of the way, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is expected to go ahead this week with plans to change nearly half of his Cabinet, including his foreign and economic ministers.
After an eight-point drop in votes for his Justice and Development Party, or AKP, in the local elections, Erdoğan hinted he would make the necessary appointments in his Cabinet and party administrations. The replacement announcements will take place after the MGK meeting because some of the ministers are members of the top security board. On Thursday, Erdoğan is expected to introduce his new ministers to President Abdullah Gül for approval.
One of the critical replacements may be the appointment of Professor Ahmet Davutoğlu, Erdoğan’s chief foreign policy advisor, to the Foreign Ministry. His appointment would mean that the current minister Ali Babacan might be transferred to the Economic Ministry.
Erdoğan was scheduled to convene his party’s top decision-making body last night to discuss the reshuffle once again.
Amnesty to be discussed
A number of important issues will be discussed during today's MGK meeting. Alongside recent developments on establishing diplomatic ties with Armenia, a possible new legal arrangement for broadening the scope of the existing Penitence Law for the members of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, will also be discussed. Chief of General Staff Gen. İlker Başbuğ hinted in an earlier speech that amending this law could be useful.
As a result of the relatively poor showing of the AKP in the March local elections, the first time the AKP saw its vote decrease since 2002, a Cabinet change has been seen as imminent by most political pundits. Erdoğan had clearly signalled that changes should be expected.
One of the critical replacements may be the appointment of Professor Ahmet Davutoğlu, Erdoğan’s chief foreign policy advisor, to the Foreign Ministry. His appointment would mean that the current minister Ali Babacan might be transferred to the Economic Ministry.
Erdoğan was scheduled to convene his party’s top decision-making body last night to discuss the reshuffle once again.
Amnesty to be discussed
A number of important issues will be discussed during today's MGK meeting. Alongside recent developments on establishing diplomatic ties with Armenia, a possible new legal arrangement for broadening the scope of the existing Penitence Law for the members of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, will also be discussed. Chief of General Staff Gen. İlker Başbuğ hinted in an earlier speech that amending this law could be useful.
As a result of the relatively poor showing of the AKP in the March local elections, the first time the AKP saw its vote decrease since 2002, a Cabinet change has been seen as imminent by most political pundits. Erdoğan had clearly signalled that changes should be expected.