Scores of prominent bureaucrats, academics and union figures have resigned from their posts in the past week in the hope of becoming deputy candidate nominees for the June 7 parliamentary elections. The resignations continued until late Tuesday in accordance with the law that stipulates that civil servants must offer resignations by February 10. As the deadline for resignation to be a deputy candidate ended, some of Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu's chief consultants resigned from their posts to run in the parliamentary elections. The most eye-catching resignation among the chief consultants to run was Ali Sarıkaya, who has been working with Davutoğlu for years. Sarıkaya, who has been one of Davutoğlu's advisors since his term as foreign minister, was a student of Davutoğlu's in university and is known for his close relations with the prime minister as the two have been working together for the past 12 years. Sarıkaya accompanies Davutoğlu even in the most critical meetings. Ertan Aydın, who was the only advisor to remain in the Prime Ministry since the rule of prime minister and current president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has resigned his post to run for a seat in Parliament. Taha Özkan, who worked at the Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research (SETA) before being appointed as chief consultant when Davutoğlu became prime minister, offered his resignation to run in the general elections. Chief consultants Vedat Bilgin and Emine Nur Günay, who are academics, left their posts in an attempt to be Justice and Development Party (AK Party) deputies. The prime minister's health advisor, Celil Göçer, also offered his resignation to run in the upcoming election. Mehmet Atalay, who was the chair of the Press Advertising Institute (BİK), submitted his resignation on Sunday and announced his candidacy for the nomination from Trabzon on behalf of the AK Party. Hasan Albayrak, who is currently a counselor at the Prime Ministry, is on the list of candidates who will try his luck at being elected an AK Party deputy. The vice presidents of the AK Party, Abdülhamit Gül, Yasin Aktay and Süleyman Soylu and a member of the party's Central Executive Committee (MKYK), Mazhar Bağlı, are among those running for election who are seen as the most likely to be elected. The head of National Intelligence Agency (MİT) Hakan Fidan, who Erdoğan described as "my secret-keeper," also left his post on February 7. The resignation date, which was three days ahead of the deadline, has been interpreted as a message to the Gülen Movement since February 7 was the third anniversary of when an alleged Gülenist prosecutor summoned Fidan for questioning in 2012. This is accepted as the date that the Gülen Movement initiated war against the AK Party government. Following his resignation, Erdoğan said that he found Fidan's resignation to run for Parliament in the upcoming June election "inappropriate." Erdoğan's chief advisor and speechwriter, Aydın Ünal, and another advisor, Mustafa İsen, also resigned from their posts to run.Many deputy ministers have given a shot at occupying parliamentary seats as AK Party deputies. Deputy Customs and Trade Minister Fatih Metin, Deputy Justice Minister Veysi Kaynak, Deputy Labor Minister Halil Etyemez, Deputy Development Minister Mehmet Ceylan, Deputy National Education Minister Orhan Erdem, Deputy Finance Minister Abdullah Erdem Cantimur, Deputy Interior Minister Osman Güneş, Deputy Culture and Tourism Minister Abdurrahman Arıcı, Deputy Forest and Water Affairs Minister Nurettin Akman, Deputy Family and Social Affairs Minister Çiğdem Erdoğan Atabek and Deputy Health Minister Erkan Kandemir left their posts to run in the upcoming elections.Ministry advisors also left their posts to run. Justice Ministry advisers Adnan Boynukara, Burhan Güvenç, Family and Social Planning Ministry advisor Kenan Önalan, Youth and Sport Ministry advisor and European champion wrestler Selçuk Çebi, Health Ministry advisors Enginer Birdal and Osman Güzelgöz, the Family and Social Planning Ministry advisor Ayşe Keşir and Transport and Communication Ministry advisor Mehmet Aycı resigned.In the Foreign Ministry, several diplomats resigned to run for a seat in Parliament. Hulusi Kılıç, who has served as Foreign Ministry Bilateral Political Affairs Director General, resigned from his post. Kılıç had served as Turkey's ambassador to Baku. Kani Torun, who is Turkey's former ambassador to Somalia and served as a chief consultant at the Prime Ministry, also resigned. The ambassador to Cameroon Ömer Faruk Doğan, human rights adviser in Turkey's Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe Vienna Mission Dilek Ertürk and Foreign Ministry adviser Hüseyin Avni Bıçaklı are among those from the Foreign Ministry who resigned.From academic circles, Istanbul University Rector Yunus Söylet, Harran University Rector İbrahim Halil Mutlu, Şırnak University Rector Ali Akmaz, Turkish Aviation Association (THK) University Rector Ünsal Ban, Galatasaray University Rector Ethem Tolga, Karabük University Rector Burhanettin Uysal, Muş Alparslan University Rector Nihat İnanç and Tunceli University Rector Durmuş Boztuğ resigned from their posts to run in the elections.The wave of resignations to run for Parliament also hit heads and senior officials of public institutions as many officials with critical duties resigned from their posts with the hope of being elected as a deputy. Social Security Institute (SGK) head Yadigar Gökalp İlhan was among the most eye-catching resignations as the SGK is one of Turkey's biggest institutions with 15 million registered employees. Turkish Republic Railways Director General Süleyman Karaman; State Water Affairs General Director Akif Özkaldı; Customs General Director Cenap Aşcı; Sport General Director Mehmet Baykan, who served Turkish sports for 30 years; Secondary Education Director General Ercan Türk; Press Bulletin Authority Director General Mehmet Atalay; Livestock Affairs Director General Mustafa Kayhan; Turkish Standard Institute Chief Hakan Şentürk; Turkish Statistics Institute (TÜİK) Deputy Chief Musa Yılmaz; Privatization Administration Deputy Chief İbrahim Halil Kırşan; Deputy Chief of the Forensic Medicine İnstitute Muhammet Emin Akbaşoğlu; Social Security Institute Department Chief Yavuz Selim Ayaz; Trading and Contracting Company Director General Münib Karakılıç; Family and Social Planning Ministry Social Aid Deputy Director General Ümit Güner and Directorate General for Migration Management head Atay Uslu are among the senior officials who resigned. In Supreme Board of Radio and Televion (RTÜK), Turkey's media watchdog, International Relations Unit Chief Mehmet Çakırtaş, RTÜK Executive Advisers İrfan Barut, Yaşar Uğurlu and Rasim Bölücek as well as researcher Mustafa Tarlacı resigned. In addition, Supreme Board of Education (YÖK) members Muhittin Şimşek and Emin Zararsız offered their resignations.The governor of the eastern province of Bitlis, Salih Altun, southeastern province of Şırnak deputy governor Turhan Bedirhanoğlu and northwestern province of Tekirdağ deputy governor Mustafa Yel left their posts to run for Parliament.Mehmet Özhaseki, who has been serving as Kayseri province mayor for 20 years, also resigned from his post to run to be a deputy. His candidacy is an exception since it was announced that AK Party mayors are not allowed to leave their post for deputy candidate nominations. Academic Ahmet Doğan, the father of Furkan Doğan, who was killed by Israeli commandos on the Mavi Marmara that was carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza in 2010, resigned his post for a parliamentary seat.Accepted as a symbol of the headscarf during the February 28 post-modern coup, Leyla Şahin, who was sent down from Istanbul University on February 28, 1997 because of her headscarf, is expected to compete for a seat in the upcoming elections.The public officials who resigned will be able to return to civil service if they are not elected or attain the expected success in accord with the 92th article of the civil service law.