Davutoğlu announces new Turkish interim government

Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu was tasked with forming a caretaker government until an election scheduled for Nov. 1, after he failed to form a coalition government following an inconclusive vote on June 7. Two opposition parties refused to participate in the 26-member power-sharing Cabinet, forcing Davutoğlu to fill ministries allocated to the opposition with independent figures. Three legislators from the pro-Kurdish People's Democracy Party (HDP), were also invited to join the Cabinet and two of them accepted, as did a prominent member of Turkey's nationalist party who broke ranks with his party and was appointed deputy prime minister. Davutoğlu announced the new cabinet after his meeting with Erdoğan. According to Davutoğlu's statement, he will keep his post as the prime minister while Yalçın Akdoğan, Numan Kurtulmuş, Cevdet Yılmaz and Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) deputy Tuğrul Türkeş were appoined as deputy prime ministers. HDP'S Ali Rıza Konca and Müslüm Doğan were appointed as the minister for European Union Affairs and development respectively. Feridun Sinirlioğlu, undersecretary at the foreign ministry since 2009, was named as the new foreign minister, a critical post as the NATO member takes on a frontline role in the US-led coalition against Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). Government sources said former development minister Cevdet Yilmaz would take over as deputy prime minister in charge of the economy, replacing the highly-regarded Ali Babacan, who leaves office because of a ruling AK Party limit on the number of terms members can serve in parliament. Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek and Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekçi both retained their existing roles. cademic Ayşen Gürcan was appointed as the minister of family and social policy of the interim government, becoming the first-ever headscarf-wearing minister in the history of the Turkish Republic. Former Grand Unity Party (BBP) leader Yalçın Topçu was also appointed as the minister of culture and tourism. Davutoğlu was forced to form a power-sharing cabinet after the AK Party lost its majority in a June election for the first time and then failed to find a junior coalition partner. The interim government will now lead Turkey to a new election on Nov. 1. The June vote ended more than a decade of single-party rule, unnerving investors in its $870 billion economy as it battles Kurdish militants at home and ISIL fighters on its borders, helping send the lira to a series of record lows. Kazinform has learnt from Today's Zaman .