ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will be sworn in on Saturday for a third term as president after emerging victorious from a historic runoff election despite a worsening economic crisis in the country.
Erdogan won the May 28 runoff against a coalition of opposition parties led by Republican People’s Party (CHP) head Kemal Kilicdaroglu, his challenger, taking 52.18 percent of the vote while his opponent received 47.82 percent, according to state media figures.
The inauguration will take place in parliament, followed by a ceremony at the presidential palace in Ankara in the presence of world leaders.
The elections were a decisive victory for Erdogan and his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) despite an ongoing economic crisis that has seen the lira plummet in value and the aftermath of February’s devastating earthquake that killed over 50,000 in the country.
The AKP won a majority in the 600-seat parliament.
Later on Saturday, Erdogan will reveal his new cabinet amid media reports of a full revamp, with Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu and Defense Minister Hulusi Akar among those who may lose their posts.
Reports that Erdogan would make a full revamp at his cabinet of ministers, Soylu and Akar to be goner https://t.co/0jc9Gv1I3r
— Ragıp Soylu (@ragipsoylu) June 2, 2023
Among the attendees for the inauguration ceremony is Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani, who received a formal invitation from Erdogan on Wednesday.
Turkey and the Kurdistan Region enjoy strong economic relations, with most of the Region’s crude oil exported to international markets through Turkey until they were suspended in late March following a court decision.
The ceremony will also be attended by NATO head Jens Stoltenberg, who is expected to meet with Erdogan and push for Sweden’s admission into the alliance. Turkey remains the final obstacle in giving the green light for Stockholm to join.
NATO requires unanimous approval of new members seeking to join the alliance and Turkey has used this as leverage to force Sweden and Finland to counter Kurdish groups it considers “terrorists” in exchange for Ankara’s backing of their accession.
While Finland was approved by Ankara and its membership was ratified in April, Sweden’s request to join remains in limbo. Erdogan has repeatedly accused Sweden of harboring and supporting groups including the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
The PKK is a Kurdish group fighting for the increased political and cultural rights of Kurds in Turkey and has waged an armed insurgency against Ankara for decades. The Turkey-PKK conflict has killed tens of thousands of people and has spread beyond Turkey’s borders into the Kurdistan Region and Syria.
On Friday, 600 newly elected lawmakers were sworn into Turkey’s parliament in a ceremony attended by Erdogan.
