Erdoğan dismisses stats institute deputy heads

In a midnight decree on March 17, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan dismissed two deputy heads of the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK), who were appointed just seven months ago.

Thursday March 17 2022 12:31 pm

Duvar English

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on March 17 dismissed two deputy heads of the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK), Umut Serhat İdman and Nurettin Kaya, who were appointed to their posts just seven months ago.

While the government's Official Gazette announced the dismissals, no re-appointments were made to their 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 2-1/2 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.