Turkish politician appointed as minister in new Swedish Cabinet

ISTANBUL

Mehmet Kaplan (2nd L) has been named as Sweden’s city planning and environment minister.

Mehmet Kaplan, of Turkish origin, has been announced as Sweden’s city planning and environment minister, as new Social Democrat Prime Minister Stefan Loefven unveiled his Cabinet on Oct. 3, Anadolu Agency reported.

The Social Democrats topped the general election on Sept. 14 and have formed a minority government with the Greens.

Kaplan was born in 1971 in the southeastern Turkish province of Gaziantep. He entered the Swedish Parliament as a member of the Green Party and served as a lawmaker for two terms, before running an unsuccessful campaign for the Stockholm mayorship in the latest municipal elections. He has been a member of the Green Party since 2003.

Kaplan was on board the Mavi Marmara, an aid ship dispatched to Gaza which was raided by Israeli commandos in 2010. He was briefly detained in Israel following the incident, in which 10 Turkish activists on the ship were killed.

The Social Democrats and Greens hold a minority of the seats in Sweden’s Parliament, and the incoming center-left government is likely to be one of Sweden’s weakest for decades.

Loefven named fellow Social Democrat Magdalena Andersson as Sweden’s finance minister and appointed Social Democrat Margot Wallstrom as its foreign minister.

Outlining his plans for the coming four years, former union boss Loefven said he would seek wide support for his plans to boost programs for welfare, schools and jobs.