Turkey's PM announces major cabinet reshuffle

Turkey's Prime Minister Binali Yildirim announced a major cabinet reshuffle on Wednesday, replacing or swapping 11 ministers in the 27-member council of ministers, including the ministers for justice and defense.

The new cabinet was announced following a meeting with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the Presidential Palace in Ankara.

Bekir Bozdag, Mehmet Simsek, Fikri Isik, Recep Akdag and Hakan Cavusoglu were named as Deputy Prime Ministers. Among them, four were newly appointed.While ministries for the economy, finance, foreign affairs, the interior and European Union Affairs remained unchanged.

The five ministerial newcomers included Julide Sarieroglu, who became labor and social security minister raising the number of women in the Council of Ministers to two.

Also appointed were Abdulhamit Gul, who was assigned the Justice Ministry portfolio; Osman Askin Bak, who became youth and sports minister; new Health Minister Ahmet Demircan; and Ahmet Esref Fakibaba, appointed to the Food, Agriculture and Livestock Ministry, Anadolu News Agency reported.

Hakan Cavusoglu, a lawmaker from the northwestern province of Bursa, was also appointed as a deputy prime minister while Mehmet Simsek retained his position as one of five deputies to Yildirim.

The cabinet reshuffle is seen as a major step toward his cementing his authority following April's constitutional referendum that re-appointed Erdogan as chairman of the ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party ahead of the 2019 elections. Prior to the referendum, Turkey's president was not allowed officially to be a political party member.