President Erdogan sworn in for third term
Highlights unity, fraternity in 1st speech
ANKARA: Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan was on Saturday sworn in for a third term as president, promising to serve “impartially” after winning a historic runoff election to extend his two-decade rule.
The inauguration in parliament will be followed by a lavish ceremony at his palace in the capital Ankara attended by dozens of world leaders. Turkey’s transformative but divisive leader won the May 28 runoff against a powerful opposition coalition, despite an economic crisis and anger over a February earthquake that killed more than 50,000 people. Erdogan won 52.18 percent of the vote while his secular rival Kemal Kilicdaroglu scored 47.82 percent, official results show.
“As president, I swear upon my honour and integrity, before the great Turkish nation … to work with all my power to protect the existence and independence of the state … and to fulfil my duty impartially,” Erdogan said in parliament after a ceremony outside the building where he saluted soldiers under pouring rain.
Supporters in parliament gave Erdogan a minute-long standing ovation after his swearing in, while some opposition lawmakers refused to stand up. In his oath, Erdogan also promised not to deviate from the rule of law and the secular principles of the republic founded by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk 100 years ago.
Turkey’s longest-serving leader now faces significant immediate challenges in his third term, including the slowing economy and tensions with the West. “From a geopolitical point of view, the election will reinforce Turkey’s recent pursuit of an independent foreign policy,” said Matt Gertken, chief geopolitical strategist at BCA Research.
“This policy aims to extract maximum economic and strategic benefits from eastern and autocratic states while still preventing a permanent rupture in relations with western democracies,” he said.”Tensions with the West will likely increase again,” Gertken added. Azerbaijans President Ilham Aliyev, Irans vice president Mohammad Mokhber, Hungary’s right-wing Prime Minister Viktor Orban and the speaker of the lower house of Russia’s parliament, Vyacheslav Volodin, are among the foreign guests expected at the ceremony later Saturday. Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan will also be present, his office said, the latest sign of a thaw between the two arch foes. Addressing the countrys economic troubles will be Erdogan’s first priority, with inflation running at 43.70 percent, partly due to his unorthodox policy of cutting interest rates to stimulate growth. The president is due to unveil his new cabinet on Saturday, with media speculating that former finance minister Mehmet Simsek, a reassuring figure with international stature, could return. A former Merrill Lynch economist, Simsek is known to oppose Erdogan’s unconventional policies.
He served as finance minister between 2009 and 2015 and deputy prime minister in charge of the economy until 2018, before stepping down ahead of a series of lira crashes that year. “Erdogan’s government looks like it will pursue an orthodox stabilisation programme,” said Alp Erinc Yeldan, professor of economics at Istanbuls Kadir Has University. “What we see now is that the news about Mehmet Simsek and his team is greeted with enthusiasm by the markets,” he told media. Turkey’s new members of parliament were sworn in on Friday in its first session after the May 14 election, with Erdogan’s alliance holding a majority in the 600-seat house. Kilicdaroglus future as leader of the CHP party remains in doubt following his defeat to Erdogan.
