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Former Minister of Foreign Affairs and Economic Affairs Ali Babacan was once a rising star within Erdogan’s AKP party. But last July Babacan left the party and founded a new party. Ahmet Davutoglu, former foreign minister and former prime minister, was once an important leader in the party, but was sidetracked by Erdogan and founded his own party in December last year.
But that Erdogan’s own son-in-law, fellow party member Berat Albayrak, stepped down as Finance Minister last Sunday is something else. The 42-year-old Albayrak has long been regarded as his father-in-law’s successor. Erdogan has helped him a lot to a career within the party. The former businessman was married to Erdogan’s eldest daughter Esra in 2004. Albayrak entered parliament in 2015 and became Minister of Energy later in the year and then Minister of Finance two years ago.
But Albayrak also had enemies within the AKP. The plunging of the Turkish lira intensified criticism. Erdogan had just replaced the governor of the Central Bank with someone who has very different views on the economy than Albayrak. Albayrak was passed over and reported via Instagram that he was leaving for health reasons. But he also wrote that there were difficult times “when good and bad intermingle and it is difficult to tell the difference between truth and lies.”
President Erdogan laid a wreath at Kemal Ataturk’s mausoleum on Tuesday.
Ⓒ AFP
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The Turkish media, often strongly linked to Erdogan, initially remained silent. It was only after more than 24 hours that confirmation came that Erdogan’s resignation has been accepted. Albayrak’s departure is felt like an earthquake within the Turkish government.
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