Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has announced he will chair a cabinet meeting in January, a move unprecedented for a Turkish president in recent times.

Previous presidents, including Erdoğan’s predecessor and one-time comrade Abdullah Gül, performed a largely ceremonial role but the office has been transformed in the four months since Erdoğan took charge.

Chairing the cabinet meeting is an important step in his clear drive to enshrine the presidency as Turkey’s number one job, both in theory and in practice.

Erdoğan led the Turkish government as prime minister from 2003 to 2014 and in August won the country’s first direct presidential elections. He told reporters on Monday that he would host the cabinet on 19 January at his vast new presidential palace in the Bestepe district of Ankara.

“I will gather the cabinet ministers on 19 January at Bestepe and will chair the cabinet meeting there,” he said in televised comments, emphasising that this was allowed by the constitution.

It will be the first time Erdoğan has chaired the cabinet since being elected president. Gül did not chair cabinet meetings when in office.

The ruling Justice and Development party (AKP), co-founded by Erdoğan, is aiming for a large majority in parliamentary elections in June so that it can change the constitution and formalise the president’s powers.

Erdoğan promised to be an active president during the election campaign in the summer, saying this was justified by the fact that he was being chosen by the people. He has since been true to his word, clearly leading Turkish policy on every issue from the Syria conflict to the economy. His opponents fear that Turkey is lurching to one-man rule under Erdoğan, who could theoretically stay in power until 2024.

The presidential palace, which according to Erdoğan has 1,150 rooms, was built at a cost of about £385m and has become a symbol of official excess for his opponents.