New Turkish Cabinet Approved
The Turkish Times - The 58th Turkish Cabinet list was approved by President Ahmet Necdet Sezer on Monday, November 18, 2002. The government held its first Cabinet meeting on Monday, and the discussions were recorded for the first time, Deputy Prime Minister Abdullatif Sener said. He said that was a sign of the government's desire for more transparency. Sener said the government will read out its program in parliament on Saturday and on Nov. 28 will face a confidence vote it will almost certainly pass.

Gul was appointed premier rather than party leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who was banned from holding the post because he was convicted for reading a poem that Turkish courts said incited religious hatred.

As a result, the new government was expected to make amendments to the constitution to allow Erdogan to become premier.

Outgoing premier Bulent Ecevit formally handed over his office to Gul in a symbolic ceremony Tuesday. Gul praised the ailing 77-year old, five-time premier as ``an unforgettable name'' and ``an important cornerstone'' in Turkish politics.

The new government takes over with the Turkish economy in the worst recession in more than 50 years.

The following is a list of Turkey's new cabinet members from the Justice and Development Party, or AKP:

CABINET
Prime Minister: Abdullah GUL
Deputy Prime Minister: Abdullatif SENER
Deputy Prime Minister: Mehmet Ali SAHIN
Deputy Prime Minister: Ertugrul YALCINBAYIR
State Minister for the Economy: Ali BABACAN
StateMinister: Mehmet AYDIN
State Minister: Besir ATALAY
State Minister: Kursat TUZMEN

MINISTERS
Agriculture: Sami GUCLU
Culture: Huseyin CELIK
Defense: Vecdi GONUL
Education: Erkan MUMCU
Energy: Hilmi GULER
Environment: Imdat SUTLUOGLU
Finance: Kemal UNAKITAN
Foreign: Yasar YAKIS
Forestry: Osman PEPE
Health: Recep AKDAG
Housing: Zeki ERGEZEN
Industry & Trade: Ali COSKUN
Interior: Abdulkadir AKSU
Justice: Cemil CICEK
Labor & Social Security: Murat BASESGIOGLU
Tourism: Guldal AKSIT
Transportation: Binali YILDIRIM

The available biographies selected cabinet members:

PRIME MINISTER: ABDULLAH GÜL
He earned a degree at the Istanbul University in economics. He spent two years in British capital London and Exter for his master and Ph degrees. After returning to Turkey, he worked to found the department of industrial engineering at the Sakarya University. Between 1983 and 1991, he served at the Jeddah-based Islamic Development Bank as an expert. He was elected as deputy of the Welfare Party (RP) from Kayseri province in the early elections in 1991. Gul has been acting as a member of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (COEPA) since 1992. He worked at the Culture, By-law and Political and Economic Development committees of the COEPA. He was presented with Medal of Pro Merito and Honorary Membership due to his activities at the Council of Europe (COE). Gul was appointed as RP deputy leader responsible for foreign affairs in 1993. He explained RP's views at many meetings both in Europe and the United States. In the general elections in 1995, he was re-elected as RP deputy.

Between 1991 and 1995, Gul served as member of the Parliamentary Planning and Budget Commission. He was elected as a member of Parliamentary ForeignAffairs Commission in 1995. Gul served as state minister and government spokesman in the coalition government formed between the RP and the True Path Party (DYP). When the RP was banned by the Constitutional Court, Gul joined the Virtue Party (FP). In the general elections held on April 18, 1999, Gul was re-elected for the third time. With the support of Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Gul became a candidate for FP leadership at the FP General Congress in 2000. After the FP was closed down by the Constitution Court, Gul took part among founders of the AK Party on August 14, 2001. Gul was reelected for the fourth time in the general elections on November 3, 2002.

MINISTER OF STATE: ALI BABACAN
Born in 1967, Ali Babacan is probably one of the youngest parliamentarians to be elected to the Turkish Parliament and the youngest Minister of this cabinet. A graduate of METU Industrial Engineering with a 4.0 GPA, and an MBA from Kellogg, Minister Babacan worked as a consultant in the US before joining the Ak Party in 2002. He was elected from the 1st District of Ankara.

MINISTER OF JUSTICE: ÇEMIL ÇIÇEK
Cemil Cicek served as the Minister of State during his term as an MP from Motherland Party. He joined AK party in 2002 and was elected from Yozgat.

MINISTER OF NATIONAL DEFENSE: VECDI GÖNÜL
Vecdi Gonul has served in the capacity of Governor of Kocaeli, Director General of the National Security (Police) Directorate, Central Governor, Governor of Ankara and Izmir, Undersecretary of Ministry of Interior respectively. In 1999 he joined the Parliament as an MP from Kocaeli and became the VP of the Parliament. Upon resigning from this position he joined AK party in 2001. He also served as a member of the EU Parliamentarian Assembly. He was elected as an MP from Kocaeli.

MINISTER OF NATIONAL EDUCATION: ERKAN MUMCU
He served as an MP from ANAP and the Minister of Tourism during the 57th Government of Turkey. He later joined AK party and was elected as an MP from Isparta in the November 3 election.