INTERIM GOVERNMENT: A FIRST IN HISTORY
The Turkish public had been waiting in anticipation since June when Turkey’s electoral commission announced the results of the general elections. People were speculating whether a coalition would be formed - and if so, who would be in it and what that might mean for Turkey. But that means little now. The coalition talks have since collapsed and the deadline to form a government has passed. So, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan gave prime minister Ahmet Davutoglu the mandate to form an interim government. Turkey’s Official Gazette announced the decision on August 25 - that until the snap election, Turkey would be ruled an interim government to be formed within five days. And it took three days for Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu to announce the new members of cabinet. The official handover ceremony for the first interim government in the history of Turkey followed a day later.
The numbers of seats it held in parliament allowed the governing AK Party 11 ministries. The main opposition CHP was eligible for five, and both the MHP and HDP three each. But the law required the ministries of justice, interior affairs and transportation to be given to independent candidates.

THE PROCESS
Prime Minister Davutoglu then sent invitations to the candidates. In turn, they had 24 hours to accept or reject the invitations. But the CHP and MHP already declared they’d not take part in the interim government. The HDP said it was willing to and would accept any ministry. Still, there were notable deputies who decided to go against the will of their parties. Levent Tuzel from the HDP declined a ministerial post, while son of former nationalist leader Alparslan Turkes, Tugrul Turkes from the MHP accepted the post of deputy ministry. Second most represented party in the interim government. Ali Haydar Konca became Minister of European Union and Muslum Dogan, Minister of Development. And, Aysen Gurcan became the first headscarved minister in Turkish history when she was appointed Minister of Family and Social Politics.

EARLY ELECTIONS
After a 45-days of coalition talks between parties bore no results, the Supreme Electoral Council of Turkey set November 1 as the date for a snap election. The Turkish constitution states that an early election must take place if parties do not reach an agreement to form a government within a 45 day period following a stalemate election. The electoral council published a calendar for the snap election last week. It also confirmed that a total of 29 political parties will take part in the upcoming elections. 47.5 million citizens voted in the elections on June and a similar turnout is expected in November.