After a major reshuffle on Saturday, Türkiye’s new government took office and began work on Tuesday with its first meeting. Comprised of technocrats and prominent figures of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party), the Cabinet faces a diverse array of issues to be dealt with, mainly the economy, one of the priorities for President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
Ministers accompanied President Erdoğan on Tuesday afternoon for a traditional ceremony to pay respects to Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, founder of the Republic of Türkiye. They laid a wreath at the mausoleum of the first president who inspired Erdoğan’s Century of Türkiye, an ambitious plan of reforms to take place on the centenary of the republic and beyond.
“We swiftly hit the road for the road to building the Century of Türkiye with our first meeting. We will serve the entire 85 million citizens of Türkiye. We will make the centenary of the republic you entrusted to us, an occasion we are proud of observing, as the starting point of our era of rising, by God’s will. May Allah help us succeed in serving our nation. May your soul be blessed,” Erdoğan wrote in the memorial book of the mausoleum known as Anıtkabir.
The Cabinet’s first meeting will focus on economic measures to tackle inflation, as well as foreign policy issues like the approval of Sweden's NATO membership. The meeting was also expected to discuss the implementation of pledges Erdoğan made on the campaign trail, including improvement of salaries of retired and working citizens.
Erdoğan, who triumphed in the runoff on May 28, entered his third decade with the AK Party at the helm of Türkiye, either as prime minister or president. Among the most pressing issues awaiting him and his new Cabinet is inflation, which affects daily life, from food prices to rent. The president has promised to reduce inflation to single digits and the latest figures appear promising. The annual inflation rate slowed for a seventh straight month in May and fell under 40% for the first time in 16 months, official data showed Monday, driven by a temporary government measure offering free gas to households, offsetting price rises in other goods. Consumer prices rose by 39.6% from a year ago, the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) data showed. It compared to 43.7% registered in April and marks a significant regress from the peak of over 85% in autumn 2022 before it started to ease as of November. Erdoğan has stressed earlier the government's determination to safeguard households against high prices and said tackling inflation is a top priority. His view was echoed by the newly appointed Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz, an orthodox economic manager, who said Monday that the government would prioritize the fight against inflation, adding that they were "aware it will take time."
Another item on the Cabinet’s agenda is reconstruction in earthquake-hit provinces in Türkiye’s southeast. Dubbed the “disaster of the century,” two earthquakes claimed more than 50,000 lives in several provinces, leaving a trail of destruction in its wake. Though the government was criticized for a “slow response” by the opposition, Erdoğan emerged victorious in almost all disaster-hit provinces in the elections, cementing his reputation as a leader fulfilling his promises as he did in the aftermath of similar disasters in the past three decades.
Erdoğan had centered his reelection campaign on rebuilding areas devastated by the earthquake and promised to spend whatever is necessary to reconstruct the region. The tremors destroyed or damaged more than 300,000 buildings. Hundreds of thousands of residents are sheltering in temporary accommodation, including tents. Erdoğan has promised to build 319,000 homes within the year.
The damage caused by the earthquakes is estimated to be over $100 billion (TL 2 trillion), according to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The construction process of more than 100,000 residential buildings and village homes has already started. Erdoğan has said the government will not leave the earthquake region until the construction of a total of 650,000 homes is completed.
Another pressing issue is the state of Syrian refugees, which was exploited by the opposition during their election campaign. Erdoğan’s rivals pledged a swift return of refugees to Türkiye’s war-torn neighbor. Türkiye embraced millions of refugees who fled their country with little to no possessions and supported them with funds from the international community in the past decade. Ankara’s official stance is “dignified, voluntary return” of refugees to Syria, only after their safety is guaranteed. Through “voluntary return bureaus” set up in 12 provinces with high refugee populations, refugees are able to cross the border under the principle of “safe, voluntary and dignified return” as the Migration Management Directorate of the Interior Ministry said.
So far, more than 554,000 Syrians returned to their country, particularly to the areas liberated from terrorist groups with the support of the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK). The Turkish army was behind operations Euphrates Shield, Olive Branch and Peace Spring to ensure the safety of areas in Türkiye’s north, immediately across the Turkish border, which has been under the threat of terror attacks from Syria.
Through the support of Türkiye, liberated areas have seen improvement in daily life, from new schools and hospitals to better infrastructure. Most recently, Türkiye unveiled a "Voluntary, Safe, Honorable Return Project" in Syria’s Jarablus city with Qatari funding to guarantee the repatriation of at least 1 million Syrian refugees over the next three years. It involves a massive rebuilding project in the city to accommodate the returnees.
The Cabinet will also discuss counterterrorism efforts, particularly operations against the terrorist group PKK, within Türkiye and cross-border action. The PKK’s Syria wing, the YPG, enjoys U.S. support in Syria, a major point of concern for Ankara. Türkiye successfully carried out precision strikes and land operations in both Syria and Iraq against the PKK while Erdoğan hinted last year that another cross-border operation into Syria against the PKK/YPG may be carried out to eliminate the terror threat, especially against Türkiye’s border towns.
As the whole world is watching the steps of the new government, Sweden is particularly anxious. The Nordic country has been awaiting approval from Ankara for a long time and is hopeful to get it this month. Türkiye is among two opponents of its NATO bid, out of concerns for apparent support by Sweden to the terrorist groups by giving their supporters a safe haven. Sweden implemented a counterterrorism bill last week to address Türkiye’s concerns. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, who attended Erdoğan’s inauguration last week, has announced that he and Erdoğan had agreed the joint permanent mechanism Türkiye established with Sweden and Finland at the Madrid summit last year should reconvene in the week of June 12.
Although Türkiye appreciates Sweden’s efforts, a recent rally by PKK terrorist sympathizers in Stockholm targeting the counterterrorism bill and Erdoğan may overshadow the issue.
