Türkiye appoints new environment, health ministers

ANKARA

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan appointed new health and environment ministers in a minor reshuffle of his cabinet early on July 2.

According to the country's official gazette, Murat Kurum will replace Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change Minister Mehmet Özhaseki, who has tendered his resignation over "health reasons."

Kurum previously served in the same role from 2018 to 2021 and was the ruling Justice and Development Party's (AKP) candidate for mayor of Istanbul in the recent March polls.

He was defeated by Ekrem İmamoğlu of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP).

Meanwhile, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca will be replaced by Kemal Memişoğlu, who has served as the ministry's head in Istanbul.

Born in Trabzon, the 58-year-old graduated from Hacettepe University’s medical school in 1990 and became a professor of general surgery in 2016. He also practiced medicine in the United States before his appointment as provincial head in Istanbul.

“I would like to express my gratitude to our President for deeming me worthy of this honorable duty for our homeland and nation,” Memişoğlu wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

“I will work with all my strength to fulfill the heavy responsibility required by my duty.”

Özhaseki also shared his resignation statement on X, expressing his gratitude to Erdoğan.

The minister served as mayor of the central city of Kayseri for 17 years. He was also the AKP candidate for mayor in the capital Ankara in 2019 but lost to CHP's Mansur Yavaş.

In his acceptance statement, Kurum thanked Erdoğan and assured the public of his commitment to the role, especially in areas affected by last year’s devastating earthquakes.

“Like our minister Mehmet Özhaseki, from whom we will take over the flag, we will continue to work and run in every corner of our 81 provinces, especially in all our cities where the 'disaster of the century' occurred,” Kurum said.

The tremors resulted in over 53,000 deaths and impacted more than 14 million people across a vast region in southern Türkiye.

Kurum’s reinstatement as minister comes after a tenure from 2018 to 2021, during which he was part of the first cabinet formed under Türkiye's new presidential system, which transformed the ministerial cabinet into the presidential cabinet.

The shift saw the abolition of the prime minister's office and the transition from a parliamentary government to an executive presidency.

The ministry’s name was changed in 2021 to include climate change.