ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan fired the country’s trade minister Wednesday following allegations that her husband’s company received a tender to sell disinfectants to the ministry.
In a mini Cabinet reshuffle, Erdogan also split the Ministry of Family, Labor and Social Services into two and appointed new ministers to lead them, according to a decree published in the Official Gazette.
The president named Mehmet Mus, a prominent ruling party lawmaker, as trade minister to replace Ruhsar Pekcan, according to the decree.
Pekcan’s firing came after Oda TV news website reported that her husband’s company was chosen for the procurement of thousands of liters of disinfectants, allegedly worth 9 million Turkish Lira ($1.1 million), to the Trade Ministry. Pekcan denied any wrongdoing, insisting that the company had made the lowest bid.
Zehra Zumrut Selcuk, the former minister for family affairs, labor and social security, was replaced by lawyer Derya Yanik as minister for family affairs and by Vedat Bilgin — an advisor to Erdogan — as minister for labor and social security.
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