What will Davutoğlu's strategy and HDP's attitude be?

We are going through days in which even 24 hours is considered long in terms of politics.

Till the last moment, I expected the opposition parties to make a surprise move towards a caretaker government.

But nothing happened.

In this case, the job is left for President Erdoğan to complete. Erdoğan will meet today with Turkish Parliamentary Speaker Ismet Yılmaz and start the process.

Whereas, the leaders could have developed a formula.

Because the end of the 45-day deadline came, AK Party attempted to take CHP's pulse one last time in terms of the “caretaker pre-election government.”

However, another development is now being talked about. AK Party has made a move in Parliament to discuss the cross-border operation mandate. Meanwhile, the CHP has requested, “There may be a need for a legislative arrangement before the primary election. Therefore, give us some time.” Thereupon, AK Party has started to check with the CHP to see if regulations can be arranged for; the election threshold to drop to 7 percent and for election security.

During the coalition talks, the AK Party committee met with the CHP committee, yet there was something missing. Other than the head of the committees, there were no other figures to “conduct a shuttle diplomacy” between the two leaders. For example, AK Party proposed a caretaker government. Kılıçdaroğlu wanted a 4-year powerful government. Couldn't this period of time been transformed into a ten-month or one-year coalition? This couldn't even be discussed. I am aware that two parties with different grassroots will face many problems when trying to form a coalition. I just wanted to draw attention to the fact that back door diplomacy is a very powerful tool for achieving results.

An example from Tansu Çiller.

It was 1998.

After the military toppled the 'Refahyol' government on February 28, despite the declaration signed by the three parties, Demirel assigned the duty to Mesut Yılmaz instead of Tansu Çiller. After the collapse of the Yılmaz government, Yalım Erez was assigned the new government.

Just as it was in the case of the Sadi Irmak government being assigned after March 12.

Yalım Erez made an appointment with Çankaya to get an approval for his ministerial cabinet.

In a few hours, he would be the Prime Minister of the Turkish Republic.

I was the parliament correspondent for HBB T.V.

We had set the outside broadcast vehicle in front of the Çankaya Palace.

I went into the Parliament to find out about the last backstage talk before I went on air.

I found out that Tansu Çiller had made a proposal to Ecevit.

Ahmet İyimaya, AK Party's current Ankara Deputy, was the person who made the proposal to Ecevit on behalf of Çiller.

He was the DYP's Amasya Deputy.

Ecevit was excited upon hearing Çiller's prime minister offer.

Çiller had proposed a minority government with external support.

Ecevit had asked, “ Why won't you participate?” İyimaya's reply was, “ Tansu Çiller does not want to come to an agreement with February 28.”

From that moment on, everything capsized.

With a list of names for his cabinet remaining in his pocket, Yalım Erez reinstated his duty.

With this move, Çiller blocked Erez's path, and cleared the way not for herself, but for Ecevit.

Firstly, Ecevit was the Prime minister of the minority government. Then, following the extradition of Öcalan, he succeeded to become the chosen prime minister of the April 18, 1999 elections.

The opposition leaders could not play their best cards. A different scene would have been visible today, if they had wanted to.

Since politics could not create a solution, the job is left for President Erdoğan to complete.

I hope that the opposition, who has stipulated the President remain in his “legal boundaries” till today, does not accuse him of respecting the constitution this time. Articles 116 and 114 of the constitution assert that; if a government is not formed within 45 days, the election is to be renewed.

Turkey has formed 62 governments till today. We have experienced everything from single party governments to interim regime governments, to technocrat cabinets. Yet, a caretaker government, as a constitutional obligation, is to be formed for the first time.

I spoke to Burhan Kuzu, the key advisor to the Presidency. He said, “ Because the caretaker government is being formed for the first time, it will in a sense form its own tradition.”

The CHP and the MHP stated that they would not participate in the government to be formed. The aim is to put AK Party into the same photograph as the HDP during a time when martyr funerals are on the rise and to say, “ They have formed a government with the PKK.”

In this case, I am sure AK Party will say, “ We proposed to form a coalition with the MHP. Instead of participating in the government, and standing against the PKK, they have forced us to constitutionally form a government with the HDP.” How will AK Party act during the government forming process? The Prime minister had said, “I will choose the ministers. When deciding on the names, I will take merit, worthiness and harmony into consideration.”

Burhan Kuzu stated, “The general government forming policy will be implemented. The Prime Minister will decide on the names that he will be working with.” Ahmet İyimaya recalled the provision; “ The ministers will be chosen, from among deputies and parliament members who have eligibility, by the Prime Minister.”

The caretaker government will be formed for the first time, yet the procedure is evident. The AK Party will have 11, the CHP six, MHP and HDP three ministries each. The CHP and the MHP stated that they were not going to take place in the government. AK Party isn't expected to place its previous ministers (of three terms) who were not selected as representatives into the new caretaker government. Well, is it possible for some existing ministers, who weren't selected as representatives, to be brought into ministry positions from the “independent” quota? I checked backstage talks. There is no evident inclination towards this. Bureaucrats are expected to be brought into the ministry positions that the CHP and MHP will not fill. As for the HDP names for the ministries, there seems to be no back door diplomacy happening between the HDP and AK Party. The Prime Minister had previously said that he would sound the HDP out for the names it was contemplating on giving for the ministry positions. This was the right thing to do. Yet, upon the harsh statements made by the co-presidents, the Prime Minister said that he had changed his mind. The Prime minister stated that he would decide on the HDP names he thought they could work harmoniously with. Gaziantep M.P Celal Doğan and Bitlis M.P Mahmut Gardalı are the names that are coming to my ear. These names can be chosen upon consulting with the HDP, too.

People are concerned about the attitude the HDP will hold. Despite its objections to the method, HDP wants to take place in the 63rd Turkish Government. Because, it perceives this as a chance to cross the psychological threshold, and a breaking point.