President Suleyman Demirel has appointed the Trade and Industry Minister, Mr Yalim Erez, prime minister-designate in an attempt to end a three-week political crisis. He was asked yesterday to form a temporary coalition to take the country to elections scheduled for April.
"The president has given me the task of forming a new government," Mr Erez told reporters after meeting Mr Demirel at the presidential palace.
Turkey's political parties have been deeply divided about who should replace Mr Mesut Yilmaz, whose government lost power last month in a corruption scandal.
The Islamists, at odds with the powerful army, have been cold-shouldered by the other parties in the search for a government.
Mr Erez is a deal maker who thrives in the cut-and-thrust of Turkish politics. While active in party politics only since 1995, he has built a network of contacts.
Mr Erez (54) is seen as one of the few deputies capable of uniting the conservatives, who would replace the Islamists as the biggest bloc in parliament if they dropped personal feuds.
Although now an independent, he has served in recent years in the cabinets of both Ms Tansu Ciller and Mr Yilmaz, both conservative former prime ministers and bitter rivals.
Mr Erez played a key role in the formation of Mr Yilmaz's government.
He held court for days in an Ankara hotel room that was visited by a stream of power-brokers for private meetings. Mr Yilmaz became prime minister and Mr Erez joined the cabinet as an independent.
Mr Demirel may be hoping Mr Erez can put such deal-making talents to use again, if more publicly.
As a sign of his ambitious character, Mr Erez was the first to promote himself as a candidate for the premiership last month shortly after Mr Yilmaz's coalition fell under corruption charges.
"Turkey is in need of a strong government led by a strong man. I clearly state that I propose to serve in such a government," Mr Erez said.