Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was sworn in on Monday for a second presidential term under a new system that grants him greater powers in what critics said was a move towards a one-man regime. He took his oath in parliament for a new five-year term after his June election victory, followed by a ceremony at the presidential palace attended by dozens of world leaders marking the transition to the new executive presidency system. Erdogan, who has transformed Turkey in 15 years of rule, described the change as a "new beginning" in the countrys history and vowed to be the president of all 81 million Turks. He won last months presidential election with 52.9 percent of the vote, ushered in the executive presidency that ends parliamentary governance and boosts the powers of the formerly ceremonial presidency. "We will work to be deserving of not just those who voted for us but the 81 million," Erdogan said, adding that Turkey had paid a "heavy price" with its old system of government. He has also pledged to end the state of emergency that has been in place since the failed July 2016 coup and which has seen the biggest purge in the history of modern Turkey. One day ahead of the inauguration, 18,632 public sector employees were ordered dismissed, including thousands of soldiers and police officers in a new crackdown. Seeking to counter his critics, Erdogan vowed that "in the new period, Turkey will go much further in terms of democratic fundamentals, rights, freedom and economic investment." "We have come not to be master but to be servant of our people," he added. Crowds cheered Erdogan along his convoys route as he made his way to the inauguration ceremony. The presidency tweeted with the hashtag #NewEraWithErdogan. A special one lira coin (less than 25 US cents) was minted for guests with the image of the presidential palace, dated July 9, 2018. The new system, which dispenses with the office of prime minister, was agreed in a bitterly fought 2017 referendum narrowly won by the "Yes" camp. The issue is still polarizing in Turkey. "A partisan one-man regime starts officially today," said the opposition Cumhuriyet newspaper. But the pro-government daily Yeni Safak wrote under the headline "historic day": "One page is closing in Turkish history and a new page is opening." The president now sits at the top of a vertical power structure marked by a slimmed-down government with 16 ministries instead of 26 and multiple bodies reporting to him. Abolishing the post of prime minister, the president will now form the government, appoint ministers, vice presidents and high-level bureaucrats, issue decrees, prepare the budget and has the power to impose a state of emergency. Parliament can ratify or reject his budget and the president needs parliamentary approval for emergency rule and decrees passed during that time. Under the new system, Erdogan will not only run the executive branch but also lead his Justice and Development Party in parliament where he is six short of a majority and therefore allied with a nationalist party. Critics say the new system undermines impartiality. In one of the most significant changes, the EU affairs ministry, set up in 2011 to oversee Turkeys faltering bid to join the bloc, is being subsumed into the foreign ministry. Prime Minister Binali Yildirim now goes down in history as the 27th and final holder of the post in Turkey. He is expected to become speaker of the new parliament. A former Istanbul mayor, Erdogan has been at the helm of Turkey since 2003 as prime minister and then the first directly elected president since 2014.