Turkish government crumbling
Three ministers had resigned Monday, including Deputy Premier Husamettin Ozkan. He was ordered to quit by Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit following rumours that Ozkan was negotiating in secret with coalition partners to replace the ailing premier.
Ozkan's departure triggered an exodus of party legislators who are tired of Ecevit's iron-fisted way of ruling the party and believe the government is crumbling under a premier in poor health and unwilling to surrender power.
The latest to step down was Deputy Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz, who called for a new government. With 20 lawmakers having resigned along with the four ministers this week, Turkey's coalition government was on the brink of collapse.
The resignations were a serious blow to Ecevit's efforts to remain in power despite being hospitalised and suffering from various ailments during the past two months. They also called into question his party's drive to pass legislation required by the European Union, such as abolishing the death penalty and expanding rights for minority Kurds.
The political chaos comes as Turkey has taken over leadership of the international peacekeeping force in Afghanistan and Washington is considering military action against Iraq. Turkey borders Iraq and hosted coalition aircraft during the Gulf War.
"Mr Ozkan was the glue that held this coalition government together," Yilmaz, leader of the centre-right Motherland Party said.
"It can be asked now how this government will continue without him."
Istanbul's stock market, which fears an early election could derail an economic recovery program, dropped 3% in early trading yesterday. But the market recovered later to close the morning session about 0.5% down.
The Turkish lira sank to a record low of 1.7 million against the dollar in early trading. Nearly $31 billion in International Monetary Fund loans have been targeted to help the Turkish economy recover from a crisis that saw it shrink 9.4% last year amid mass layoffs.
Kemal Dervis, the economy minister and the chief architect of the IMF-backed program, tried to ease market concerns. "There is no need to worry," he said. "But of course, Turkey should reach out for a lasting political solution as soon as possible.
"I think we will be able to see things more clearly within a week or maybe sooner." As the government crumbled, the eyes of political observers in Ankara turned to Dervis, who has said he was planning to take a more active role in politics.
Dervis enjoys the confidence of international lenders but in the past had avoided discussing his political future and had even hinted that he might retire from politics. Yilmaz immediately extended an invitation to Dervis, a social-democrat, to join the Motherland Party.
"I have no doubt that we can work in harmony with Mr Dervis," he said. The resignations came two days after Deputy Premier Devlet Bahceli, the leader of the nationalists, called for a November election to end political uncertainty stemming from Ecevit's deteriorating health.
It was the first time a coalition leader had publicly called for elections before the next balloting, scheduled for the spring of 2004. Yilmaz said a November election would leave no time for the fulfilment of reforms to help the country's bid for EU membership. Bahceli's nationalists oppose many of the reforms.
"We should form a new government in order to realise EU reforms before December," Yilmaz said. "I think we owe this to next generations, if we can't make it until December, it will cost the happiness and welfare of at least one generation."
Yilmaz said if such a government cannot be formed, early elections should be held in September to avoid delaying the reforms. European leaders have suggested formal negotiations over Turkey's EU membership could begin as early as December.
