Erdoğan holds first cabinet meeting as Turkish president

Series Title
Series Details 19.01.15
Publication Date 19/01/2015
Content Type

Turkey's president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was scheduled on 15 January 2015 to chair a cabinet meeting for the first time since becoming head of state, in a move seen by the opposition as a sign of his increasingly authoritarian rule.

The Turkish president has the right under the constitution to chair cabinet meetings, which are usually overseen by the prime minister. However Mr Erdoğan’s two presidential predecessors – Ahmet Necdet Sezer and Abdullah Gül – performed largely ceremonial roles and never chaired a government meeting. He would become just the sixth Turkish president to chair a cabinet meeting in the history of the modern republic founded in 1923.

Mr Erdoğan took the presidency in August 2014 elections after more than a decade as prime minister. For the first time the president was directly elected by the people and he has insisted he now had a popular mandate to be an active and powerful leader.

Source Link Link to Main Source http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jan/19/erdogan-first-cabinet-meeting-turkish-president
Related Links
ESO: Background information: Turkey's Erdogan is inaugurated as president http://www.europeansources.info/record/turkeys-erdogan-is-inaugurated-as-president/
Euronews, 19.01.15: Erdogan stirs power concerns by chairing Turkish cabinet meeting http://www.euronews.com/2015/01/19/erdogan-stirs-power-concerns-by-chairing-turkish-cabinet-meeting/
ESO: Background information: Turkish presidential election, 2014 http://www.europeansources.info/record/turkish-presidential-election-2014/
Radikal, 20.01.15: Erdoğan demotes government to bit player (via Euro|Topics) http://www.eurotopics.net/en/home/presseschau/archiv/aehnliche/archiv_article/ARTICLE156928-Erdo-an-demotes-government-to-bit-player
Deutsche Welle, 30.12.14: Erdogan's presidential ambitions under fire http://dw.de/p/1EDDv

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