ANKARA, Turkey, May 1 (UPI) -- Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan shuffled his Cabinet on Friday, appointing a top foreign policy adviser as his new foreign minister.
Erdogan moved several officials around Friday from the ruling Justice and Development Party, or AKP, Turkish daily Today's Zaman reports.
Erdogan appointed Istanbul AKP deputy Omer Dincer as the new labor and social security minister, replacing Faruk Celik.
Meanwhile, Bulent Arinc, a former speaker of the Turkish Parliament, was appointed as the next state minister and deputy premier Friday.
Erdogan's top foreign policy adviser, Ahmet Davutoglu, was appointed as the sole non-parliamentary official as the new foreign minister, replacing Ali Babacan.
Davutoglu led Turkish efforts aimed at resolving the 2008 conflict between Israel and Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip.
The shuffle comes on the heels of March local elections where AKP lost out to several pro-Kurdish parties, mostly in southern districts.
