Decree appoints new members to presidential boards

ANKARA

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has appointed new members to several presidential policy boards, reshaping key advisory bodies across a wide range of fields.

The appointments, announced nearly two years after Erdoğan’s reelection, span boards overseeing areas such as economy, education, security and culture.

Among the notable appointees are musician Orhan Gencebay, actress Hülya Koçyiğit Soydan and author İskender Pala, who will serve on the Culture and Arts Policy Board. World champion freediver Şahika Ercümen was named to the Social and Youth Policies Board.

The Economy Policy Board welcomed 15 new members, including Alparslan Çakar, Cem Demiroğlu and Yiğit Bulut. The Security and Foreign Policy Board includes Akif Çağatay Kılıç, Erdoğan’s chief adviser on foreign affairs, alongside former minister Fikri Işık and academics like Çağrı Erhan and Murat Yeşiltaş.

In education, Selçuk Pehlivanoğlu, president of the Turkish Education Association, joins the Education Policy Board, while Cevdet Vural was appointed head of the National Education Academy.

The Legal Policy Board sees the reappointment of Mehmet Uçum, a presidential chief adviser, joined by former deputy prime minister Hakan Çavuşoğlu.

Other boards, covering agriculture, local governance and disaster management, also received new members, such as Ramazan Bingöl, president of the All Restaurateurs and Tourism Association, on the Agriculture and Food Policy Board, and geoscientist Cenk Yaltırak on the Local Governance and Disaster Policy Board.

Additionally, Göksel Aşan was named a presidential chief adviser, and Ahmet Burak Dağlıoğlu was appointed president of the Investment and Finance Office.

The Communications Directorate saw changes, with Metin Erol, Taner Taşkıran and Sabri İşbilen removed as regional directors in Istanbul, Konya and Antalya, respectively.

New appointments include Efe Murat Erbaş for Istanbul, Oğuz Tunç for Konya and Ahmet Uzun for Antalya, alongside Mustafa Tolga Karaoğlu for Çanakkale and Numan Günay for Şanlıurfa.

Diplomatic appointments included new ambassadors to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Burkina Faso, Ireland and Nigeria.