Three female governors in office for first time in Turkey

ISTANBUL

DHA photo

A long-awaited reshuffle has led Turkey to have its third sitting female governor - and the fourth in the history of the republic - as a female district governor from Ankara was promoted to governor of the northwestern province of Yalova. The move came less than a week after a new cabinet formed under Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım won parliamentary backing.

Tuğba Yılmaz, who was previously an Ankara district governor, was appointed as the governor of Yalova, becoming the second female governor of the city and the fourth female governor of Turkey. 

The other two sitting female governors are Esengül Civelek and Yasemin Özata Çetinkaya, on duty in the northwestern province of Kırklareli and the Black Sea province of Sinop, respectively. 

A total of 24 new governors were appointed, as President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan signed the enactment which was published on the Official Gazette yesterday, while 22 governors were recalled to the capital, as they will preserve their titles as governor but will not be in charge of a specific province. 

As a result of the enactment, the northwestern province of Edirne finally has an appointed governor after five months, as Gov. Dursun Ali Şahin was superannuated last December. Günay Özdemir, who used to be the governor of northeastern Kars province, will serve as the governor of Edirne. 

The major shuffle came only days after a new Justice and Development Party (AKP) cabinet won a parliamentary vote of confidence on May 29 under the leadership of Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım, garnering 315 votes of support from the 550-seat parliament.

Yıldırım was elected the AKP’s new chairman and the country’s new prime minister after former Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu was compelled to abandon his position over a series of disagreements with Erdoğan, largely considered the actual leader of the ruling party.