ANKARA – Turkey’s outgoing premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan was on Thursday sworn in as president to extend his decade-long rule, as opponents who accuse him of authoritarianism walked out of the ceremony.
Erdogan, 60, took the oath in Ankara to begin a five-year mandate in which he has vowed to build a “new Turkey” by pushing through a new constitution and driving on with an ambitious development programme.
Deputies of the opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) — who accuse Erdogan of violating the constitution — angrily walked out of parliament just before he was sworn in.
CHP deputy head Engin Altay hurled the rule book containing parliament’s procedures across the chamber as his MPs marched out before Erdogan was sworn in to thunderous applause from supporters.
Erdogan has made clear he wants to wield genuine executive power as president after becoming the first directly elected head of state, taking 52 percent of the vote in the August 10 poll.
His recent predecessors in the Cankaya presidential palace performed a largely ceremonial role.
The election was a triumph for Erdogan — who first become premier in 2003 — after surviving a tumultuous 2013 that saw mass anti-government protests and corruption allegations against his inner circle.
He takes over as president from Abdullah Gul, a former close comrade and co-founder of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), who appears now to have fallen out with the feisty Erdogan and is expected to play no role in the next government.
Above the law’ –
Erdogan’s five-year presidential term means he will have ruled Turkey longer than its modern founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, who established the republic out of the ruins of the Ottoman Empire.
He can serve two mandates and so could theoretically stay in power until 2024, which would allow him to see in the 100th anniversary of modern Turkey in 2023, and portray himself as a historic figure to rival Ataturk. Agencies
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