Türkiye witnesses the inauguration ceremony of Erdogan as president for a third term

Turkey is witnessing today (Saturday) the inauguration ceremony of the Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, for a third term of 5 years.

The ceremony begins with Erdogan, who won the presidency in the run-off that took place last Sunday, over the opposition candidate, the head of the “Republican People’s Party”, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, who was sworn in in parliament, in a plenary session that begins at 14:00 local time (12:00). 00 GMT), to officially start his duties in his new term, after receiving the inauguration document from the Interim Speaker of Parliament, the head of the “National Movement” party, Dolt Bahceli.

After taking the oath, Erdogan heads to visit the tomb of the founder of the modern Turkish Republic, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, and then to the Presidential Complex, where an inauguration ceremony and a reception for participating guests from around the world will be held.

Upon his arrival at the Presidential Palace, Erdogan will join the convoy of the Knights of Ceremonies at its gate, accompanied by horses until he enters the palace. Ankara.

The Presidential Symphony Orchestra, the Traditional Music Ensemble and the Military Music Ensemble of the Armed Forces will participate in the ceremony.

Wide international participation

According to what the Turkish presidency announced, 78 leaders, ministers and international officials will participate in the inauguration ceremony, including 21 heads of state and 13 prime ministers, as well as ministers and heads of international organizations.

Presidents and leaders scheduled to attend: Presidents of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, Bulgaria, Venezuela, Gabon, Guinea-Bissau, South Africa, Montenegro, Congo, Rwanda, Senegal, Somalia, Togo, Guinea, Bangladesh, Kosovo and North Macedonia The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (not internationally recognized), and the Emir of Qatar.

The President of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Zeljka Cvijanovic, Council members Zeljko Komsic and Denis Beserović, and Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik will also participate.

The ceremony will also be attended by the prime ministers of 13 countries, including Pakistan, Hungary and Armenia, and the outgoing head of the Libyan “national unity” government, Abdul Hamid al-Dabaiba, as well as ministers from a number of countries, including Sameh Shoukry, the Egyptian Foreign Minister.

Twelve countries will also participate at the level of speakers of parliaments, including the Russian State Duma Speaker, Vyacheslav Volodin, and Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, Ding Zhongli. Among the participants will be former German President Christian Wolf, former Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, former President of the “Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus” Dervish Araoglu, former member of the Presidential Council of Bosnia and Herzegovina Bakr Izetbegovic, and former Swedish Prime Minister Karl Bildt.

The ceremony is also attended by representatives of 8 international organizations, including the secretaries-general of the “Turkish States” organizations, Qubanitch Bek Omar Aliyev, the “Islamic Cooperation” Hussein Ibrahim Taha, and the “North Atlantic Treaty Organization” (NATO), Jens Stoltenberg.

Sweden and NATO

The file of Sweden’s accession to the “North Atlantic Treaty Organization” (NATO) will be raised during Erdogan’s inauguration ceremony. He will be met by Stoltenberg, who will also hold a number of meetings with Turkish officials during his visit, which will last (Saturday) and (Sunday).

On Thursday, Stoltenberg expressed his desire to activate dialogue again with Turkey regarding Sweden’s membership in NATO. He added, on the sidelines of the informal meeting of the foreign ministers of the NATO countries in the Norwegian capital, Oslo: “My message is that Sweden’s membership in (NATO) is beneficial for it, as it is for the Scandinavian countries and the Baltic region, and also for (NATO), Turkey and other allies.” He pointed out that he would stress, during his meeting with Erdogan, the fact that Sweden “approved the anti-terrorism law and it entered into force.”

It seemed that Türkiye was still reluctant to accept Sweden’s request. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu did not attend the informal meeting of NATO foreign ministers. He called on Sweden to fulfill its obligations entrusted to it in the tripartite memorandum of understanding signed between his country, Sweden and Finland, on the sidelines of the “NATO” summit in Madrid in June (June) last year, and to take concrete steps in the fight against terrorism.

This came in response to Cavusoglu’s response to a tweet by his Swedish counterpart, Tobias Bilstrom, on Twitter, on Thursday evening, about his participation in the NATO foreign ministers’ meeting, stressing that “the NATO foreign ministers expressed their strong support for Sweden’s accession to the alliance.” Adding that it is “a very clear message to Turkey and Hungary in order to start ratifying Sweden’s accession.”

Formation of the government

President Erdogan will host a dinner for the guests participating in his inauguration. He is also expected to announce in the evening the formation of his new government, which is expected by political circles and the Turkish street. The new Turkish parliament held its first session, on Friday, under the chairmanship of the oldest member, the head of the “National Movement” party, Dolt Bahceli. The new deputies were sworn in, marking the start of the 28th session of parliament. Erdogan attended the session.

There is widespread anticipation for the formation of the new government, which is expected to be announced at night (Saturday), and which is expected to include new faces after the entry of 16 ministers, including the ministers of defense, foreign affairs and interior, into the new parliament. These ministers make up all the ministers of Erdogan’s government, with the exception of the ministers of health, culture and tourism. Turkish laws do not allow the combination of a parliamentary seat and a ministerial position.

The deputy head of the ruling Justice and Development Party, Numan Kurtulmus, said that the party does not want some former ministers to resign from the new parliament, given the sensitive balances in Parliament.

Sources close to the Turkish presidency revealed that Erdogan reached an agreement with the former Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs, Muhammad Şemsak, to take over the economy portfolio, provided that he would be Vice President for Economic Affairs. Erdogan’s new government faces a serious challenge in the field of economy, and it must save the country from the crisis caused by the unconventional policy and economic model that Erdogan insists on, which is based on reducing interest rates, boosting growth, exports, and attracting investments.

It is reported in the political corridors in Ankara that both the current Turkish presidential spokesman, Ibrahim Kalin, and the head of intelligence, Hakan Fidan, will hold two positions in the new government.

Erdogan was elected to a third and final term last Sunday, with 52.18 percent of the vote, and his opponent, the opposition candidate, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, received 47.82 percent. Under the amended constitution in 2017, Erdogan is not entitled to run again.

The participation rate for the run-off was 84.15 percent; As 54 million 23 thousand and 601 voters, inside and outside the country, cast their votes to elect the country’s president. Erdogan got 27,834,589 votes, and Kilicdaroglu got 25,504,724 votes.

Erdogan pledged, in a speech he delivered after winning the elections, that he would work to embrace all spectrums of the Turkish people, and that the next stage would be a stage of “coalition and unity.” And he talked about his future plans within the framework of his vision known as the “Century of Turkey,” saying, “We have before us a new economic renaissance and a strong start, and we will keep terrorists away from our country’s borders.”