...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire....
’s incoming finance minister, the son-in-law of President Sultan Recep Tayyip Erdogan the First
... Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him. It's a sin, a shame, and a felony to insult the president of Turkey..., on Tuesday vowed to bring inflation down to single digits as he seeks to win over investors spooked by his appointment.
Berat Albayrak, the husband of Erdogan’s elder daughter Esra, was on Monday named by the president as treasury and finance minister as part of a cabinet reshuffle for his new term.
Albayrak’s surprise switch from the energy ministry spooked financial markets, who were also unhappy to see there was no room for outgoing deputy prime minister Mehmet Simsek, the government’s pointman on the economy.
"In the coming period we will work intensively to bring inflation down to single digits," Albayrak said at a handover ceremony with Simsek, whose post no longer exists in the new government.
Inflation in Turkey surged to over 15 percent in June for the first time in almost one-and-a-half decades, raising new fears that the economy is overheating.
Albayrak promised a "more successful performance" in the coming period based on "independent institutions".
Erdogan has repeatedly called on the central bank, nominally independent, to cut interest rates, raising concerns over its credibility.
Albayrak, 40, vowed that Turkey would set "an example for the world" in financial and budgetary discipline and also vowed "a vigorous and energetic monetary policy", without giving further details.
"Turkey will write a new story," he promised.