Turkey's Cabinet Members Named

Following a housecleaning of his Cabinet amid a rising corruption scandal, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced his replacements for 10 cabinet posts Dec. 25, including those of three members who resigned earlier in the day. All but the new minister of justice, Bekir Bozdag, are newcomers and little known. Bozdag, a former vice premier, is a theologian who has been a member of parliament for the ruling Justice and Development Party, or AKP, since 2002. As reported by the Turkish daily Turkiye, the other new Cabinet members include:
Deputy Prime Minister: Emrullah Isler, an AKP lawmaker from Ankara. He is a graduate of King Saud University in Saudi Arabia with a doctorate in Islamic studies.
Minister for European Union Affairs: Mevlut Cavusoglu, an AKP lawmaker from Antalya. He reportedly is fluent in English, German and Japanese and has a graduate degree from Long Island University.
Interior Minister: Efkan Ala, an undersecretary in the prime ministry. He served as governor of Diyarbakir province from 2004 to 2007.
Minister of Families and Social Policy: Aysenur Islam, a former professor of English and Turkish literature.
Economy Minister: Nihat Zeybekci, an AKP lawmaker from Denizli. He was mayor of Denizli from 2004 to 2011.
Minister of Industry and Technology: Fikri Isik, an AKP lawmaker from Kocaeli. He served in numerous provincial posts as an AKP operative and most recently headed the parliamentary committee on culture, youth and sports.
Minister of Environment and Urban Planning: Idris Gulluce, an AKP lawmaker from Istanbul. He is a former Istanbul city councilman, and he worked in Libya for many years as a private engineer.
Minister of Transportation, Maritime Affairs and Communications: Lutfi Elvan, an AKP parliamentarian from Karaman. Elvan has a degree from Istanbul Technical University in mineral science, did research at the University of Leeds in England and holds a master's in economics from Delaware University.
Minister of Youth and Sports: Akif Cagatay Kilic, an AKP parliamentarian from Samsun. He is a member of the Iran-Turkey and Canada-Turkey "friendship groups" in parliament.

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