One hot and one cold. The new Turkish Government announced on Saturday night puts an end to years of financial and monetary heterodoxy, without renouncing a markedly independent foreign policy.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan begins his new term as president with an almost complete removal of his Council of Ministers. Only two, out of seventeen, keep their portfolios. The additions are mostly technocrats.
What doesn’t change is his overwhelmingly masculine character. The only woman in the Cabinet will be in charge of the Ministry of the Family.
In another area, on the other hand, Erdogan has tried to appear inclusive. South-eastern Turkey achieves maximum confidence, with the Ministries of Finance and Foreign Affairs in the hands of Kurds, Mehmet Simsek and Hakan Fidan, and the transfer of the vice-presidency to a Zaza, Cevdet Yilmaz.
Although it is the first two that make the difference. Simsek, who was already economic czar between 2009 and 2018, returns to bring order and stop inflation and the galloping depreciation of the lira.
This former UBS and Merrill Lynch banker, in New York and London respectively, has already said all the words that capital managers wanted to hear this weekend. He has promised to focus on macro-financial stability, to reduce inflation and to promote a “rules-based and predictable” economy.
“Turkey has no other option but to return to rational ground”, he said.
On the other hand, Erdogan’s bet for Foreign Affairs is none other than the superspy Hakan Fidan, until now head of the MIT intelligence agency and key man in defeating the coup attempt of the 2016
He is a man with an exhaustive knowledge of the Kurdish dossier and the Gülenist networks, with which he had friction during his missions abroad.
His appointment is a clear signal that major movements are about to take place in Syria. This very Sunday, the Syrian rebel groups made a profession of unity in Geneva and declared themselves ready to negotiate with Baixar al-Assad, readmitted to the Arab League.
Other important appointments are those of the Minister of Energy, Alparslan Bayraktar, or the Minister of Defense, Yasar Güler, current Chief of Staff. No less significant is the dismissal of the previous Minister of the Interior, the long-tongued Süleyman Soylu.
