Erdogan's new cabinet emerges with inclusion of Kurds also

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, after winning the elections for the third time, included a large number of "Kurds" in his cabinet. Erdogan announced that two government ministers will continue to hold their positions, besides that 15 new ministers have been added to the cabinet, including several Kurdish ministers. Among the Kurdish ministers, Mohammad Shamshak has been entrusted with the portfolio of finance and finance

The parliament has also appointed Judat Yilmaz as a minister. Political analysts say regarding Erdogan's decision that "the appointment of several leading Kurdish figures as ministers by the Turkish president in his new government is to find a peaceful solution for the Kurds." Does not reflect their desire. The Turkish president wants to solve the crisis for which he is bringing the Kurds together. Economic crisis is the most important among them. He has tried to solve the financial crisis by appointing Shamshak, who is famous for economic projects, as the finance minister. The selection of these figures as ministers is an important development, but they do not represent the aspirations and demands of the Kurds.

Turkey held its first presidential runoff elections on May 14 and 28. Polls prior to the election showed Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s People’s Alliance and Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu’s Nation Alliance in a close competition, with both candidates in the 40 percent range, which suggested the People’s Democratic Party (HDP) and Kurdish voters would be the key to electoral victory.

The Kurdish movement has entered into elections since 1991 under ten different parties as a result of continuous threats of party closures, and the tenth of these, the HDP, was under threat of closure due to an ongoing court case and decided to enter the elections with a “backup” party – the Green Left Party (YSP).

The leadership of the Green Left Party established the Labor and Freedom Alliance prior to the election with the Turkish Workers Party (TİP) and other left wing parties.

The Green Left Party’s leadership, having decided not to nominate a presidential candidate from their own alliance, gave their support to Kılıçdaroğlu and with this support Kılıçdaroğlu led Erdoğan in pre-election polls. However, while this support buoyed Kılıçdaroğlu, it became Erdoğan’s biggest trump card at the same time. Despite the harm caused by high inflation and the earthquakes, Erdoğan spent the whole campaign charging Kılıçdaroğlu with having garnered the support of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). He even released a deep fake video purporting to show Kılıçdaroğlu meeting with PKK leader Murat Karayılan. The video ultimately boosted support for Erdoğan’s campaign in the country’s nationalist and conservative regions. 

Given the fact of the HDP’s strength in Kurdish regions, those regions were among those that voted most heavily for Kılıçdaroğlu.

This inclusion of Kurds in the cabinet is being seen b international observers as a positive step for peace initiative on the one hand and to give the message to international players, who had been involved in hatching conspiracies and supporting the separatist militants, that kurds are comfortable and at ease.