Istanbul, 4 June 2023 (dpa/MIA) - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has on Saturday replaced almost his entire Cabinet, hours after he took office, bringing back former aides such as Mehmet Şimşek.

Şimşek will serve as Treasury and Finance Minister while Erdoğan's long-time confidant, intelligence chief Hakan Fidan, was appointed Foreign Minister.

Erdoğan named Chief of Staff Yaşar Güler as Defence Minister and his former aide Cevdet Yılmaz as Vice President.

The Cabinet's only female minister is Mahinur Özdemir Göktaş, who was appointed Family Minister. The Belgian-born politician was formerly ambassador to Algeria. Istanbul's governor Ali Yerlikaya was named Interior Minister.

Health Minister Fahrettin Koca and Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy were the only two former Cabinet members who kept their posts.

Mehmet Şimşek has been largely in charge of the economy in various posts between 2007 and 2018, gaining a good reputation amongst Western investors. Following Turkey's switch to executive presidency in July 2018, Şimşek was removed from Cabinet.

Local media had speculated that Erdoğan and Şimşek had fallen out due to the president's insistence on an unorthodox theory that lower interest rates lead to lower inflation.

Since Şimşek left, the Turkish lira lost over 75% versus the US dollar amid a series of interest rate cuts. This was despite a stubbornly high inflation rate and tensions with Western allies.

It was immediately unclear if and how Erdoğan, who often intervenes in financial policies including that of the supposedly independent central bank, will allow Şimşek, a conventional, Western-minded economist, steer the economy.

Hakan Fidan has been the intelligence chief since 2010. He replaced Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, who has been foreign minister since 2014.

Erdoğan's choice to appoint the former intelligence chief and former chief of staff to top security positions suggests that the re-elected president will follow a security-oriented policy in the coming years.

His former Cabinet members will serve as lawmakers in parliament, Erdoğan said as he thanked them.

Erdoğan, who won the May 28 presidential run-off to gain another five-year term, took office earlier on Saturday.

His re-election, after 20 years in power, comes amid the worst cost-of-living crisis in two decades and a host of regional challenges.

Earlier at his inauguration speech in Ankara, Erdoğan pledged to strengthen Turkey's diplomatic hand around the world, while at home, he promised a new, inclusive constitution and improvements to the economy.

"We promise to work with all our power to protect the Turkish Republic's glory, boost its reputation in the world," Erdoğan told a ceremony at his presidential palace in Ankara, attended by representatives from nearly 80 countries and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.

Erdoğan also urged the Turkish opposition to respect the will of the nation.

Earlier on Saturday, despite the regulations, in protest, opposition lawmakers refused to stand while Erdoğan took the parliamentary oath, which stressed adherence to secular republican values, rights and the rule of law.

The opposition criticized the 69-year-old president for what they call his "authoritarian" tendencies and an unfair election campaign.

Erdoğan rejected such criticism as "slander" during his inauguration speech.

Stoltenberg was due to hold separate talks with Erdoğan, NATO said earlier. His visit comes as NATO raises the pressure on member Turkey to end its opposition to Sweden joining the alliance.

Erdoğan and his nationalist, Islamist allies form the largest bloc in the 600-seat parliament. However they lack the majority needed to make key legal changes.

The president can still pass some legislative changes by decree, though, under his powers as executive president since 2018.

Photo: EPA