Erdoğan dismisses stats institute TÜİK deputy head after 7 months in charge

Duvar English

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Nov. 12 dismissed deputy head of the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK), Fatih Şahin, who were appointed to his post on April 25.

While the government's Official Gazette announced the dismissal, no re-appointment were made to his position.

Erdoğan previously replaced Sait Erdal Dinçer as chair of TÜİK, less than a year after his appointment, with Erhan Çetinkaya in January 2022.

Erdoğan has drawn criticism for his frequent overhaul of the country's economic team, including replacing three central bank governors in the last three years and changing his finance minister and other top officials. A total of five chairs have changed in the last three years at TÜIK.

Opposition parties and critics have accused TÜİK of meddling with inflation and other official data, for political reasons. The institute has dismissed the allegation, but researchers have begun alternative inflation calculations.

Turkey's independent academics announce annual inflation rate as 185 percentEconomy

Expenses of Turkish national intelligence agency, statistics office not auditedPolitics

Turkish Finance Ministry launches tax audit against independent inflation research groupPolitics

Another senior Turkish official in charge of inflation data resigns from postEconomy