Turkey's new caretaker government that includes the first ever representatives from a pro-Kurdish party and a veiled minister held its first meeting on Tuesday to prepare to rule until snap polls in November.
Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu formed the so-called "election cabinet" after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called the polls following inconclusive polls on June 7.
The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) failed to win a majority for the first time since it came to power in 2002 but was also unable to form a coalition with the opposition.
The cabinet met at the Cankaya Palace in Ankara after visiting the mausoleum of modern Turkey's founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the official Anatolia news agency reported.
The formation of the caretaker government is an obligation under the constitution if the elections are called by president.
It should include representatives of all parties in parliament but the second placed Republican People's Party (CHP) and third placed Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) have refused to take part.
The quota of posts allotted to the CHP and MHP have gone to experts from outside parliament and many are seen as loyal to the AKP.
But two MPs from the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), Ali Haydar Konca and Muslum Dogan, have taken posts as EU affairs minister and development minister.
This is the first time MPs from a pro-Kurdish party have cabinet seats and comes as the government is waging a remorseless offensive against Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants.
Much attention has been given to the appointment of Aysen Gurcan as family and social minister, as she is the first woman wearing the Muslim headscarf to serve in the Turkish cabinet.
Known for her conservative social views, the career academic is seen as the ideological architect of Erdogan's drive to encourage families to have three children.
Turkish media quoted her as saying at the weekend: "If a Muslim woman does not know how to make a borek (Turkish pastry) then that family is condemned to collapse."
Meanwhile, the new Tourism and Culture Minister is Yalcin Topcu, nominally independent, but a former head of the ultra-nationalist Great Union Party (BBP).
Davutoglu also scored a major coup by persuading MHP MP Tugrul Turkes -- the son of the party's founder -- to break the line of its leader Devlet Bahceli and join the cabinet.
Many high profile faces are gone, including former deputy prime minister for economic affairs Ali Babacan and former foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu.
Turkey’s new caretaker government that includes the first ever representatives from a pro-Kurdish party and a veiled minister held its first meeting on Tuesday to prepare to rule until snap polls in November.
Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu formed the so-called “election cabinet” after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called the polls following inconclusive polls on June 7.
The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) failed to win a majority for the first time since it came to power in 2002 but was also unable to form a coalition with the opposition.
The cabinet met at the Cankaya Palace in Ankara after visiting the mausoleum of modern Turkey’s founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the official Anatolia news agency reported.
The formation of the caretaker government is an obligation under the constitution if the elections are called by president.
It should include representatives of all parties in parliament but the second placed Republican People’s Party (CHP) and third placed Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) have refused to take part.
The quota of posts allotted to the CHP and MHP have gone to experts from outside parliament and many are seen as loyal to the AKP.
But two MPs from the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), Ali Haydar Konca and Muslum Dogan, have taken posts as EU affairs minister and development minister.
This is the first time MPs from a pro-Kurdish party have cabinet seats and comes as the government is waging a remorseless offensive against Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants.
Much attention has been given to the appointment of Aysen Gurcan as family and social minister, as she is the first woman wearing the Muslim headscarf to serve in the Turkish cabinet.
Known for her conservative social views, the career academic is seen as the ideological architect of Erdogan’s drive to encourage families to have three children.
Turkish media quoted her as saying at the weekend: “If a Muslim woman does not know how to make a borek (Turkish pastry) then that family is condemned to collapse.”
Meanwhile, the new Tourism and Culture Minister is Yalcin Topcu, nominally independent, but a former head of the ultra-nationalist Great Union Party (BBP).
Davutoglu also scored a major coup by persuading MHP MP Tugrul Turkes — the son of the party’s founder — to break the line of its leader Devlet Bahceli and join the cabinet.
Many high profile faces are gone, including former deputy prime minister for economic affairs Ali Babacan and former foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu.
