Turkey's anti-corruption crusader Sadettin Tantan said Wednesday he had resigned from his party and cabinet post, the day after he was demoted from interior minister and made customs minister, said AFP.
"I have resigned from my new post in the cabinet because I do not find my demotion compatible with my own principles and my political understanding," Tantan said in a written statement, quoted by the all-news NTV channel.
Tantan's resignation came as no surprise following Tuesday's cabinet reshuffle, which many observers saw as the result of mounting tension between him and his party leader, Deputy Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz, who heads the center-right Motherland Party (ANAP), according to AFP.
A war of words broke out between them following a probe into the ANAP-held energy ministry, which resulted in the resignation of the former energy minister in April.
The state minister in charge of the Turkish Radio and Television Corporation (TRT) and the semi-official Anatolia Agency (AA), Rustu Kazim Yucelen, has become the new interior minister, reported the Turkish Daily News.
The state minister in charge of customs, Mehmet Kececiler, has become the new boss of the TRT and AA, it said.
The reshuffle followed a stern warning earlier Tuesday by Yilmaz to ANAP ministers in the cabinet that all cabinet members were expected to unite around the economic restructuring program devised by the government in hopes of salvaging the country from one of the worst economic-financial crises in recent history, said the paper.
"Any word, attitude or behavior that erodes this atmosphere of confidence will serve no other purpose than to worsen the crisis situation," said Yilmaz to his deputies and ministers.
"In particular, those is a position to resolve problems or contribute to getting them solved, that is everybody in the government, should be especially sensitive here. They should not become a source of problems or contribute to problems," Yilmaz told the parliamentary group of ANAP – Albawaba.com
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