Erdogan to take oath for third term as president amid Turkey's economic woes

Recep Tayyip Erdogan is set to take his oath on Saturday in Ankara, officially beginning his third term as Turkey’s president after his recent election victory.

The inauguration ceremony at the Presidential Complex is set to be attended by 21 heads of states, 13 prime ministers, various ambassadors and diplomats, numerous parliamentary and ministerial-level representatives, as well as the heads of various international organisations, according to the Anadolu Agency.

High-profile leaders include Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, President of South Africa Cyril Ramaphosa, as well as Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian President Nicholas Pashinian. 

The Secretary General of NATO, Carl Bildt, will also be in attendance, as well as a US presidential delegation. Russia will be represented by Duma speaker Vyacheslav Volodin.

After Erdogan is sworn in, he will then travel to the mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, where he will pay tribute to the founder of the modern Turkish Republic.

Erdogan is then expected to head to the presidential palace where he is scheduled to give a speech laying out a general policy roadmap for his new term.

Erdogan will unveil his new cabinet after a dinner held for the foreign officials in Ankara for the inauguration.

Erdogan takes the oath of office amid a host of domestic challenges ahead, including a battered economy, pressure for the repatriation of millions of Syrian refugees and the need to rebuild after a devastating earthquake in February that killed 50,000 and levelled entire cities in the south of the country.

The country is grappling with a cost-of-living crisis fueled by inflation that peaked at a staggering 85% in October before easing to 44% last month. The Turkish currency has lost more than 10% of its value against the dollar since the start of the year.

In power as prime minister and then as president since 2003, Erdogan is already Turkey’s longest-serving leader. He solidified his rule through constitutional changes that transformed Turkey’s presidency from a largely ceremonial role to a powerful office.

Critics say his second decade in office was marred by sharp democratic backsliding including the erosion of institutions such as the media and judiciary and the jailing of opponents and critics.

Erdogan defeated opposition leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu in a closely contested presidential run-off with 52% of the vote. It is the first time the Turkish president has been taken to the second round of voting in a presidential election.

Agencies contributed to this report