İzmir and Diyarbakır governors to swap functions as President Gül approves governor decree

ANKARA

Turkish President Abdullah Gül approved the decree on governor's appointment hours after returning from Portugal on May 8. AA photo

The governors of İzmir and Diyarbakır will swap their functions as part as the government’s decree on governors’ appointment which was approved by Turkish President Abdullah Gül May 8. As the ongoing peace process reaches its critical phase, with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) starting its withdrawal from Turkey, Turkish media reported that the government intended to appoint governors serving in the east to western cities, and vice versa, so as to consolidate the process.

Accordingly, İzmir’s governor Cahit Kıraç was appointed to Diyarbakır, while the governor of the southeast’s pivotal town, Mustafa Toprak, was assigned to replace Kıraç in Turkey’s third biggest city. 
Similarly, Antalya Governor Ahmet Altıparmak and Erzurum Governor Sebahattin Öztürk will also swap their functions.

The governors of two eastern towns, Muş governor Ali Çınar and Bingöl Governor Hakan Güvençer were appointed to the Black Sea province of Bartın and the Aegean touristic center Muğla respectively. The governor of Sinop on the black sea coast was designated to Mardin in the southeast. 

In total, some 12 governors were relocated while another six were moved back to the central administration.