Erdoğan announces several gov't appointments, dismissals

ANKARA

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has announced a series of appointments and dismissals within various ministries and public institutions, according to the Official Gazette published on July 18.

Hakkı Susmaz has been appointed head of the Presidency's Administrative Affairs Directorate, succeeding Metin Kıratlı.

Kıratlı was elected as a member of the Constitutional Court, filling the vacancy left by Muhammad Emin Kuz, whose term expired on May 12.

Bekir Keleş has taken over the role of law and legislation director at the Administrative Affairs Directorate, replacing Susmaz.

In other changes, Tarık Yusuf Uçar, deputy head of the Justice Ministry's Forensic Medicine Institute, was dismissed. Ahmet Bensiz, formerly the deputy head of legal services at the Youth and Sports Ministry, has been appointed to this position.

New chief inspectors appointed at the Family and Social Services Ministry include Esra Tuba Aydemir, Ferit Ezeroğlu, Fevzi Ünver, Aynur Genç, Mehmet Karahan and Ufak Yılmaz.

The Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change Ministry also saw significant personnel changes. Ömer Bulut and Burak Demiralp have been appointed deputy ministers, replacing Vedad Gürgen and Refik Tuzcuoğlu.

Several senior executives were dismissed from the sub-directorates, including the ministry's environmental management head Recep Akdeniz, environmental impact assessment, permitting and inspection head Cihan Tatar, combating desertification and erosion head Nurettin Taş, European Union and foreign relations head Hüseyin Bayraktar, personnel head İbrahim Yılmaz, guidance and inspection head İhsan Yiğit and strategy development head Sadi Kızık.

New appointments in these roles are Fatih Turan as environmental management head, Eyyüp Karahan as environmental impact assessment, permitting and inspection head, Kasım Yenigün as combating desertification and erosion head, İsmail Tüzgen as European Union and foreign relations head, Halil Erdoğan as personnel head, Aytaç Yüksel as guidance and inspection head and Yusuf Alperen Ayar as strategy development head.

Additionally, Veli Tunçez has been appointed as the ministry's national real estate head, Murat Oral as construction works head, Banu Aslan as professional services head, Hakan Gedikli as land registry and cadastre head and Mustafa Levent Sungur as public housing administration head.

Oğuzhan Yaylacı will now serve as the director of real estate and resource development at the ministry's Urban Transformation Directorate.

Further appointments include Yahya Kesimal as deputy leader of environmental impact assessment, permitting and supervision, Selçuk Aydemir as deputy leader of spatial planning and Maliki Ejder Batur as the ministry's Istanbul head.

In a separate announcement, Abdullah Köklü, the district governor of Istanbul's Bakırköy district, has been appointed as the northern city of Tokat's governor.