Turkey's incoming Prime Minister working on new cabinet

Yildirim chosen by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) as its chairman, replacing Ahmet Davutoglu

ANKARA: Turkey's incoming premier Binali Yildirim said Monday he was working on a new cabinet after being handed the task by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, without saying when the new lineup would be announced.

"It is not the first time a government is formed in Turkey. A list of the cabinet is being prepared," he told reporters in Ankara.

Yildirim was on Sunday chosen by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) as its chairman, replacing Ahmet Davutoglu, who stepped down as premier after a power struggle with Erdogan. According to party rules, the posts of party leader and premier are held by the same person.



Yildirim was the sole candidate for leadership at the party congress.

In an address to party delegates, Yildirim vowed to beef up the powers of president through changes to the constitution which would see Turkey shifting away from a parliamentary system that keeps the premier strong.

Yildirim said he would present the new cabinet list to Erdogan "whenever it is convenient for him" as the president is currently hosting a UN-backed humanitarian summit in Istanbul on Monday and Tuesday.

"Do not worry, it will be sorted out in a short while," he said, without giving further detail.

Markets are closely watching the formation of the new cabinet amid speculation that Erdogan's son-in-law Berat Albayrak may replace Mehmet Simsek as the deputy prime minister in charge of economy.



"We think markets' heavy emphasis on names is misplaced, for we think that incoming ministers will have little influence on policy direction and it will be Erdogan team calling the shots," Inan Demir, chief economist at Finansbank, said.

"Nonetheless, we acknowledge that markets will prefer to see familiar faces and absence of Simsek could serve as a red flag," he wrote in a note to clients.

Yildirim's appointment as prime minister comes at a time Turkey is battling Kurdish militants in the southeast and the Islamic State (IS) group in Syria.

Last week, Turkish parliament passed a contentious bill that would lift immunity for dozens of pro-Kurdish and other MPs and could drive them out of parliament.