By presidential decree overnight, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced the replacement of Justice Minister Abdulhamid Gul with Bekir Bozdag, accepting the resignation of his minister.
Bekir Bozdag had once again served as Justice Minister under Prime Minister Erdogan.
The ousted minister had been at loggerheads in recent months with Interior Minister Suleiman Soilou.
Justice Minister Abdulhamid Gul had given a harsh response in November to Interior Minister Suleiman Soilou's appeal to community leaders not to heed court rulings.
Abdulhamid Gul is a minister known for his more "moderate" stance on the AKP's "extreme security" policies. For this reason, he often quarreled with the Minister of Interior, Suleiman Soilou.
It is also said that Devlet Bahceli's Nationalist Action Party did not like him and constantly promoted Soilu, because as a former member of the Bliss Party, Abdulhamid Gul played an active role in the negotiations for its participation in the Bahceli). The MHP did not like this.
If the Bliss Party joins the People's Alliance, the MHP's influence in the AKP will be minimized. In fact, they do not want this merger to take place. That is why the MHP headquarters is cold towards Abdulhamid Gul.
At the same time, the Turkish president fired the head of the Turkish Statistical Service, who had been in the crosshairs of the opposition in recent months for "cooked" data on inflation.
Seit Erdal Dincer was replaced by Erhan Cetinkaya.
A change that was considered expected recently in political circles.