Additional reporting by Saad Abdul Majid, IOL Turkey Correspondent

ANKARA, November 18 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Prime Minister-designate Abdullah Gul, at the helm of Turkey's first single party government in 15 years, unveiled Monday, November 18, a streamlined cabinet to tackle the country's pressing economic and political problems.

The new 24-member cabinet, down from 38 under the country's veteran outgoing Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit, was approved by President Ahmet Necdet Sezer, and will be sworn in on Tuesday, November 19.

Gul's new government, 58th in Turkish republic history, will immediately have to grapple with Turkey's chronic economic woes, the country's stalled bid to join the European Union and efforts to resolve the 28-year-division of the Mediterranean island of Cyprus.

Gul, 52, a deputy chairman of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) led by the charismatic Recep Tayyip Erdogan, was appointed Prime Minister at the weekend after the party's landslide election win November 3.

The right hand man of Erdogan, who is barred from becoming Prime Minister due to a 1998 conviction for sedition, Gul has vowed that his government would waste no time in addressing the country's urgent problems.

Since the election victory, AKP officials, who say the party has long forsworn its Islamic roots in exchange for a more center-right agenda, have pledged support for Turkey's efforts to join the European Union and promised to stick to a crucial IMF-backed recovery program.

Gul unveiled his cabinet as Erdogan was on a tour of European capitals aimed at drumming up support for Turkey's efforts to secure a date for the start of accession negotiations with the EU.

Gul named Yasar Yakis, a 65-year-old veteran career diplomat who speaks several languages and has expertise in Arab affairs, as his Foreign Minister.

Vecdi Gonul, a former regional governor, was named Defense Minister for the NATO member, a key U.S. ally, which could play a major role in any war against its southern neighbor, Iraq.

Ali Babacan, a 35-year-old Western-educated financial consultant, was appointed Minister of state tasked with running the economy.

One of the main tests facing the untried AKP lies in its dealings with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which has pledged 16 billion dollars in loans in exchange for Ankara's acceptance of a three-year economic austerity program.

Abdullatif Sener, Mehmet Ali Sahin and Ertugrul Yalcinbayir were appointed deputy Prime Ministers. Their specific responsibilities were to be announced later.

Babacan was one of four Ministers of State, along with Mehmet Aydin, Besir Atalay and Kursat Tuzmen whose specific portfolios were to be announced later.

The new government comprises one woman, Gurdal Aksit, responsible for tourism.

Asked by reporters if the President imposed his choice for certain posts during their 90-minute meeting, Gul said: "It's possible, of course." But he declined to elaborate.

The AKP won 363 out of 550 parliamentary seats in the election. None of the three parties in Ecevit's coalition government made it back into parliament.

Gul Sunday, November 17, pledged to assemble his cabinet in two days and take immediate action on the poor democratic record of the EU-hopeful country and the crisis-hit economy, shortly after he was given the job of founding the next government.

The party's pledges were generally welcomed by an optimistic press Sunday, but commentators said it faced a tough schedule with less than one month left to a decisive European Union summit in Copenhagen on the enlargement process of which Turkey desperately wants to be a part, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).

"The pace is picking up. We are heading into a very intense period on critical issues straight after the (November 3) election," said Gulay Afsar in the daily Vatan newspaper.

Turkey wants EU leaders at the Copenhagen summit on December 12-13 to set a firm date for the opening of accession talks, but Brussels has so far refused to do so, on the grounds that Ankara needs to undertake more reforms.

The issue is also related to the divided island of Cyprus, whose internationally-recognized south is poised to be formally invited as a member at the same summit, amid redoubled UN efforts to reach a peace settlement soon.

Erdogan said Saturday, November 16, that his party supported negotiations on the UN plan, which has been criticized by Turkish Cypriots and the outgoing government on territorial aspects.

However, he also toughened his stance on the island's prospective EU membership, saying Turkey and Cyprus should join the Union simultaneously, a proposal that would delay Nicosia's EU entry by years.

"The AKP seems sincere in its desire to resolve the Cyprus issue, but it is not difficult to guess that a plan which foresees land concessions would hurt any government in power in Turkey," commentator Sedat Ergin said in the mass-circulation Hurriyet daily.

At home, the AKP is promising accelerated privatization, tax reforms, cuts in energy prices and social aid programs for those hurt by the strict economic recovery program demanded by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in exchange for 16 billion dollars (euros) in loans.

It is also seeking revisions in the IMF-backed program without watering down its main principles of installing discipline in public finances and achieving sustainable growth.

"The party program has been deemed impressive and sincere by all sections of society, but it fails to answer how it will find the funds to achieve its ambitious aims," Gungor Mengi wrote in the Vatan newspaper.

"The care the government will show in its relations with the IMF ... will be decisive" in revitalizing the economy, which is showing signs of recovering from a months-long recession, he added.