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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has fired his trade minister after reports of alleged cronyism in the tendering of government contracts.
The expelled minister Ruhsar Pekcan has favoured companies from her husband in the purchase of disinfectants worth hundreds of thousands of euros by her ministry.
She denied having acted wrong, saying that the trade ministry purchased disinfectants for a much lower price from those companies, which charged the lowest prices. Turkish opposition parties had filed complaints about the case.
An official explanation for Pekcan’s dismissal was not given in the Turkish Official Gazette, in which Erdogan’s decree appeared. Mehmet Mus, now a Member of Parliament on behalf of Erdogan’s AK party, will be succeeded.
Erdogan fired the Turkish central bank president last month. This probably had to do with dissatisfaction with the head of state about the interest policy. In November, his predecessor was also dismissed by Erdogan. Dissatisfaction with the government’s economic policy is growing in Turkey.
