Recep Tayyip Erdogan will cap his years-long drive to transform Turkey’s government on Monday as he’s sworn in as an executive president with vastly expanded powers.
Erdogan, modern Turkey’s longest-serving ruler, will be sworn in at parliament late in the afternoon. In the evening, he’ll mark the inauguration of the presidential system at a grand reception attended by foreign dignitaries, before unveiling the members of a cabinet expected to be pared to 16 positions from the current 27.
The coronation of the presidential office as the nexus of political power takes place at a critical juncture. The 64-year-old president, who has governed since 2003, won a mandate in the June 24 elections to govern with sweeping new powers on the platform that a powerful presidential office would ensure stability in turbulent times. Those times have already arrived, with the economic boom he’s presided over threatening to turn into a bust, and a crackdown on dissent gaining new momentum.
