Gül begins his farewell tours in presidency

President Abdullah Gül is set to begin a tour of state institutions to bid farewell, as his mandate will expire Aug. 28.

Gül will visit parliamentary speaker Cemil Çiçek at Parliament and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan at the Prime Ministry Office Aug. 4, for the first day of his tour. On Aug. 5, he will visit the heads of supreme judicial institutions, the Constitutional Court, the Supreme Court of Appeals, the Council of State and the Court of Accounts and will host the members of the Supreme Military Council (YAŞ) for the last time during dinner at the Çankaya Palace.

Gül will bid farewell to Chief of General Staff Gen. Necdet Özel on Aug. 7 and will seek appointments from the leaders of the political parties represented at Parliament. Gül will separately bid farewell to the political party leaders.

On Aug. 18 and 19, Gül is expected to hold two separate receptions as a part his bidding farewell, one for state institutions, ambassadors and officials and the second for representatives of civil society.

The handover ceremony will likely take place on Aug. 28, the last day of Gül being in office.