Turkey's the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) announced the Minister of Transport, Maritime and Communication of Turkey, Binali Yildirim, as the party's chairman, the official AKP representative Omer Celik said today.
The decision was taken following a meeting of the central executive committee of the party. The emergency convention will take place on May 22. It is expected that Binali Yildirim will be the new prime minister.
A associate professor of the Faculty of International Relations of the TOBB University of Economics and Technology (Ankara), Togrul Ismail, speaking with a correspondent of Vestnik Kavkaza, said that there have long been rumors that Binali Yildirim is one of the candidates for the post of the head of the party. "Why him? Firstly, he is a professional employee. And President Erdogan wants to create a country with a presidential form of government, that is, all political powers are likely to be concentrated in his hands. A Prime Minister probably will deal with domestic economic problems. Therefore, I think that the candidacy of Binali Yıldırım is of special importance for Erdogan and the party, since Yildirim is both an experienced specialist in this sphere and one of the founders of the Justice and Development Party," the expert said.
Speaking about possible changes in the Turkish domestic and foreign policy after the appointment, the political scientist noted he did not expect any major changes. "All depends on the APK and, of course, on Erdogan, because, first of all, the Turkish public votes for Erdogan. Secondly, there are other political forces in the country. But the establishment of a presidential form of government can be an exception. This question is relevant. And of course, there will be adjustments in foreign policy. As for relations with Russia, I believe that much depends on the leaders of the two countries. That is, on Mr. Putin and Erdogan, whether they will be able to resolve the conflict. Because both countries are suffering from it now, " Togrul Ismail concluded.
Yıldırım was born in 1955 in Erzincan, He graduated from the Shipbuilding and Marine Sciences Faculty of Istanbul Technical University. He obtained a master's degree from the same school. He worked as an engineer at Camialti shipyard.
In 1990 and 1991 he attended specialization courses at the Sweden-based World Maritime University of the International Maritime Organization (IMO).
He served as director-general of fast ferry firm Istanbul Deniz Otobusleri. In 2002 and 2007 elections, he was elected the Justice and Development Party deputy. He has served as the Minister of Transport, Maritime and Communication for five terms.
He speaks English and French. He is married with 3 children.
Yıldırım is considered to be one of the closest aides to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Previously, he spoke in favor of normalization of the Turkish-Russian relations, which soured after a Russian Su-24 was shot down over Syria in November 2015.
