Mass appointments to the seats of deputy ministers in the Turkish Cabinet were announced on Thursday. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan signed a decree published in the Official Gazette for the high offices of the ministries. Some bureaucrats kept their seats while others were newcomers.
Appointments came weeks after Erdoğan unveiled his new Cabinet, where only two ministers kept their posts. The president has hailed the Cabinet to move forward his vision of "Century of Türkiye" after he secured another five-year term in the May 28 runoff.
Burak Akçapar, Mehmet Kemal Bozay and Yasin Ekrem Serim remained in their posts as deputy foreign ministers while Ahmet Yıldız, a former deputy foreign minister who last served as a lawmaker, returned to his post.
Deputy Justice Minister Yılmaz Tunç remained in the same position, who served under his predecessor Bekir Bozdağ. Niyazi Acar rose to the rank of deputy minister from the head of the Regulations Directorate of the ministry, and Ramazan Can, a former lawmaker from the central province of Kırıkkale also became a deputy justice minister.
Leman Yenigün, who served in the women’s branch of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party), was appointed as deputy minister for family and social services, along with Sevim Sayim Madak, who served in the party’s women’s branch like Yenigün, after a business career. Zafer Tarikdaroğlu, a former adviser to the health minister, was another new appointment at the Ministry of Family and Social Services.
Ahmet Aydın was among the newly appointed names at the Ministry of Labor and Social Security while three other names kept their seats as deputy ministers. Refik Tuzcuoğlu, a member of the Presidency’s Board of Local Administration Policies, was appointed as deputy minister of environment, urban development and climate change, along with Vedad Gürgen, a veteran bureaucrat in the ministry, while two other deputy ministers retained their seats.
Ahmet Berat Çonkar, a former adviser to the now-defunct Prime Ministry on foreign affairs, who later served as head of Parliament’s foreign affairs committee, was appointed as deputy minister of energy and natural resources. Nevzat Şatıroğlu, former head of a state-run electricity production company and Zafer Demircan, who led the ministry’s nuclear regulation agency, were two other names appointed as deputy ministers, while Abdullah Tancan retained his seat as deputy minister from the tenure of former minister Fatih Dönmez.
At the Ministry of Youth and Sports, Enes Eminoğlu, formerly head of a youth nongovernmental organization (NGO), was appointed as deputy minister, along with Safa Koçoğlu, former deputy director of Green Crescent or Yeşilay, a renowned teetotaller society. Hamza Yerlikaya, former world champion wrestler, and Halis Yunus Ersöz will continue serving as other deputy ministers at the ministry.
Bülent Turan, a former lawmaker, was appointed as the new deputy interior minister, along with Mehmet Aktaş, who long served as head of the General Directorate of Security in charge of law enforcement. Mehmet Sağlam, a career lawyer who last served as head of the disciplinary board of the Turkish Football Federation (TFF), was also appointed as deputy interior minister, along with veteran Governor Münir Karaloğlu.
Batuhan Mumcu, a top aide to Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy, was appointed as deputy minister of culture and tourism. Gökhan Yazgı, a senior bureaucrat at the ministry, was also appointed to the post of deputy minister at the ministry. Nadir Alpaslan retained his seat as deputy minister, along with Serdar Çam.
Celile Eren Ökten, an academic and Turkologist, was assigned to the post of deputy education minister, along with Kemal Şamlıoğlu, a member of the Presidency’s board of education policies. Nazif Yılmaz retained his seat while Ömer Faruk Yelkenci, who led the ministry’s Istanbul Directorate of Education was appointed as deputy education minister.
Alpaslan Kavaklıoğlu and Şuay Alpay retained their seats as deputy defense ministers. Bilal Durdalı, a senior bureaucrat at the ministry, was also appointed as a deputy defense minister, along with Celal Sami Tüfekçi, former vice president of the Defense Industries Directorate of Türkiye.
Şuayip Birinci and Tolga Tolunay will continue as deputy health ministers while former Governor Hüseyin Kürşat Kırbıyık and Huzeyfe Yılmaz were appointed as new deputy health ministers.
At the Ministry of Industry and Technology, Ahmet Yozgatlıgil, a senior figure in top science body Scientific and Technological Research Council of Türkiye (TÜBITAK) was appointed as a new deputy minister. Çetin Ali Dönmez retained his seat while Oruç Baba Inan, a former lawmaker candidate for the AK Party, was appointed as deputy minister, along with Zekeriya Coştu, who headed a technology department at the ministry before.
Ahmet Bağcı, Ahmet Gümen, Ebubekir Gizligider and Veysel Tiryaki were appointed as deputy ministers of agriculture and forestry. At the Ministry of Commerce, Mahmut Gürcan, Mustafa Tuzcu, Özgür Volkan Ağar and Sezai Uçarmak will serve as deputy ministers. Durmuş Ünüvar, Enver Iskurt, Osman Boyraz and Ömer Fatih Sayan were appointed as deputy ministers of transportation and infrastructure.