By Enyichukwu Enemanna
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday, took oath of office for the term after he was last weekend re-elected for another term of five years.
“I, as president, swear upon my honour and integrity before the great Turkish nation and history, to safeguard the existence and independence of the state,” Erdogan said during his swearing-in ceremony at the Parliament in Ankara.
He defeated his opposition challenger Kemal Kilicdaroglu in a runoff vote held on May 28, after he narrowly failed to secure an outright victory in a first round of voting on May 14.
Kilicdaroglu had promised to put Turkey on a more democratic path and improve relations with the West. International observers deemed the elections to be free but not fair.
He won against opinion polls which had predicted his defeat amidst cost-of-living crisis facing the country, fueled by inflation that peaked at a staggering 85% in October before easing to 44% last month.
The Turkish currency has lost more than 10% of its value against the dollar since the start of the year.
Critics blame the turmoil on Erdogan’s policy of lowering interest rates to promote growth, which runs contrary to conventional economic thinking that calls for raising rates to combat inflation.
He is expected to announce his cabinet late Saturday. Unverified media reports say Erdogan plans to reappoint Mehmet Simsek, a respected former finance minister and deputy prime minister, to the helm of the economy. The move would signify a return by the country — which is the world’s 19th largest economy according to the World Bank — to more orthodox economic policies.
In power as prime minister and then as president since 2003, Erdogan is already Turkey’s longest-serving leader.
He has solidified his rule through constitutional changes that transformed Turkey’s presidency from a largely ceremonial role to a powerful office.
Critics say his second decade in office was marred by sharp democratic backsliding, including the erosion of institutions such as the media and judiciary and the jailing of opponents and critics.
