Still Indispensable

Most Turks agree that the country's shaky civilian rule depends on shrewd, wrinkled Premier Ismet Inonu, 78. Alone among professional politicians, he has the confidence of the nation's generals, who seized power in 1960 and who would not hesitate to take over again if Inonu's precarious civilian coalition collapsed. Last week a political crisis inside Inonu's own Republican People's Party almost forced the old man to quit, raising fresh fears of another military coup.

Inonu's troubles came from a group of rebels led by Kasim Gulek, 57, a fiery Republican who has always spoken his mind no matter what the risk. An able economist who studied at Istanbul's U.S.-financed Robert College, Columbia University and the Sorbonne, Gulek shouted defiance at the late Premier Adnan Menderes when it was not at all healthy to do so, was arrested in 1956 for "insulting the National Assembly" in public speeches.

When the army took over, Gulek made no secret of his desire to be the next Republican Premier. Even after Inonu got the job last year, Gulek rose in party councils to declare that Inonu was too old and weak. "It is either me or him," Gulek told a Republican caucus.

Three weeks ago, Inonu struck back. Gulek and two other dissident leaders were summoned before the party's disciplinary committee and suspended for a year on charges that they had made damaging public political statements. But many party members thought the punishment was too severe. Last week, as 1,300 Republicans gathered in Ankara for their annual convention, 600 of the delegates signed a petition demanding that Gulek and the two others be reinstated.

It was a serious challenge to Inonu's leadership, but the wily Premier had a powerful reply. He told the rebel sympathizers that he would quit if their petition was approved. That would bring back the army dictatorship. In the showdown vote, only ten delegates dared to oppose Inonu, and some 150 abstained. The rest obviously agreed that Ismet Inonu was still indispensable.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.