Turkey’s PM, deputy PM in conflict over president presiding over Cabinet meetings

ISTANBUL

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Claims by former Transport Minister Binali Yıldırım that President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan will preside over a Cabinet meeting on Jan. 5, 2015, are incorrect, Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç has said.

Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu also said there was no such meeting on that date, while adding that a president has previously overseen a Cabinet meeting.

“Binalı Yıldırım does not possess any other titles other than being a deputy from İzmir. He also is not the spokesperson for the president. It is wrong for a person, who does not possess any titles, to say that the government will meet under the leadership of the president, which is an issue that needs to stay between the president and the prime minister. I believe that this is wrong,” Arınç said Dec. 27 on TV.

Meanwhile, Davutoğlu said there was no meeting scheduled for Jan. 5 but that previous examples had shown that the Cabinet meeting could convene under the leadership of the president.

“There is no such meeting on Jan. 5 but there have been previous examples of the president presiding over the Cabinet meeting,” Davutoğlu said Dec. 26 during a TV show.

Yıldırım, a ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) İzmir deputy and a long-time comrade of Erdoğan, said on Dec. 16 that Erdoğan would chair a Cabinet meeting for the first time in his current capacity on Jan. 5, adding that such meetings presided over by Erdoğan would subsequently take place every two months. 

Arınç said that according to the Turkish Constitution, the president can preside over the Cabinet meeting if he or she deems it necessary. He said the president may do so by talking to the prime minister.