Erdogan, who has dominated Turkish politics for over a decade, was sworn in as Turkey's first popularly elected president yesterday. He has picked former foreign minister and loyal ally Davutoglu to succeed him as prime minister and immediately asked him to form a new government.
Erdogan has indicated he wants to transform the presidency from a largely ceremonial post into a more powerful position. He has said he would exercise the president's seldom-used powers such as calling and presiding over Cabinet meetings, which would allow him to be involved in the running of government.
Mevlut Cavusoglu, a minister whose earlier task was to negotiate Turkey's accession to the European Union, took over the Foreign Ministry from Davutoglu. Former diplomat Volkan Bozkir replaces Cavusoglu as the minister in charge of ties with the EU.
Ali Babacan, a respected deputy prime minister in charge of the economy, would stay in place, in a move that is likely to reassure financial markets. Numan Kurtulmus, a senior party official and economist, was also promoted to deputy prime minister.