Erdogan sacks statistics chief and replaces justice minister

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has sacked the head of the country’s statistics agency, according to a decree published on Saturday, after annual inflation figures angered both the pro-government and opposition camps.

Sait Erdal Dincer, head of the Turkish Statistical Institute (TUIK), came under fire after releasing data this month that put the annual inflation rate at a 19-year high of 36.1 percent.

Embroiled in a currency crisis, Turkey had been dogged by soaring inflation that is expected to hit a near 20-year high of around 47 percent in January, a Reuters poll showed on Friday.