Turkey's government collapsed Wednesday after losing a confidence vote in parliament over a corruption scandal that tainted the prime minister with allegations of mob ties.
Turkey's president began trying to construct a new government Wednesday but the pieces do not neatly fit: pro-Islamic forces pressing for power and their military-backed, Western-style opponents struggling to unite.
One of Turkey's leading politicians warned Sunday that a political vacuum could cripple the domestic battle to keep Islamists at bay and in the fight abroad for the extradition of a Kurdish rebel leader.
Turkey's secular military leadership warned a pro-Islamic party Monday against dragging the army into politics.