Erdoğan's first presidential decrees restructure Turkish administrative system

ANKARA

Turkey’s state structure has been rebuilt after President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan issued the first presidential decrees on July 10. Presidential offices, policy councils and directorates, which will work directly under the president, were introduced, while ministries, their organization and duties have been reorganized.

Following his inauguration and marking the beginning of the new presidential executive system, Erdoğan issued the first three decrees which are the fundamentals of the new state structure.

With the first decree, four presidential offices and nine boards were founded, which will work directly under the president’s command and will be subjected to related laws and presidential decrees.

“We will carry our new executive system, whose fundamentals we have set up, to the future by perpetual development,” Erdoğan said on July 9 in his first public speech after his oath at the inauguration ceremony.

“We have built a state structure that produces service, not bureaucracy. Our guide will again be democracy and the supremacy of the national will,” he added.

With the first decree, 65 previous boards, commissions and committees have been merged under nine entities, the Science, Technology and Innovation Policies Board; Education and Teaching Policies Board; Economy Policies Board; Security and Foreign Policies Board; Judicial Policies Board; Culture and Art Policies Board; Health and Food Policies Board; Social Policies Board and Local Administration Policies Board.

The boards will work “like think-tanks,” in charge of proposing policies, overseeing the implementation of the policies, and preparing recommendation reports to related institutions and ministries, as well as carrying out “related works which are deemed suitable by the president.” They will work directly under the president and follow the president’s order.

Separate from the boards, four presidential offices were established: The digital transformation, finance, human resources and investment offices. The offices will work with the president and will implement the presidency’s projects.

The offices are responsible for developing projects related to their field and implementing them.

“The office is responsible for and has the authority to coordinate all institutions and associations related to its field, to ensure collaboration and carry out necessary meetings and other organizations,” the decree read.

Also eight directorates will command directly under the president, including the Directorate of General Staff, National Security Council and Directorate of Religious Affairs. Apart from them, the State Supervisory Council and Turkish Wealth Fund have also been taken under the presidential rule.

Undersecreteriat for Defense Industries and Undersecretariat of National Intelligence Organization have become directorates and are among the eight.

National Palaces Office Directorate, Strategy and Budget Directorate, Communication Directorate and State Archive Directorates have also been placed under the president’s command.

16 new ministries

The first decrees also set the organizational structures and duties of the new ministries established by Erdoğan, who presented the new ministers on July 9 at a press conference.

The ministers are scheduled to take their oaths on July 10 with a ceremony in parliament.

Four elected lawmakers in the cabinet are expected to resign from their parliamentary posts to take their ministerial seats, as the new constitution hinders the cabinet to be formed by lawmakers.