Simsek to take charge of economy in new Turkish cabinet

Turkish Prime Minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, announces his new Cabinet in Ankara, Turkey, Tuesday, Nov. 24, 2015.

During a meeting at the presidential palace in the capital, Ankara, earlier in the day, Erdogan received Davutoglu and approved the list of the 64th government of Turkey.

Turkey’s new government will work to bring inflation down to single digits permanently, maintain central bank independence and push through reforms to boost manufacturing, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said on Wednesday.

Turkish air force shot down Russian Su-24 warplane in Turkey’s airspace Nov.24. Turkey shot down a Russian warplane Tuesday, claiming it had violated Turkish airspace and ignored repeated warnings. Russian Federation denied that the plane crossed the Syrian border into Turkish skies.

Berat Albayrak, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s son-in-law, became the country’s new energy minister.

The cabinet appointments coincided with a major European Union fund’s being officially set up to channel aid to Syrian refugees in Turkey days before a summit at which EU officials hoped to secure Ankara’s help in stemming migration.

Two women ministers will be serving in the new cabinet: family and social policies minister Sema Ramazanoglu and environment minister Fatma Guldemet Sari.

Other Erdogan allies in the cabinet include Mevlut Cavusoglu, who was reappointed to the post of foreign minister, and newly appointed Deputy Prime Minister Mehmet Simsek, who had previously served as finance minister.

The ruling party regained the parliamentary majority it had lost in a June vote.

Davutoglu was heading an interim government that was appointed to take Turkey to November vote.