Pride of Authorship

Just before the 1 p.m. newscast on Radio Ankara, three colonels from the army, navy and air force handed the announcer a bulletin and politely asked him to read it over the air. It was a memorandum from Turkey's military chiefs: "The Parliament and the government, with their continuing attitude, policies and actions, have pushed our country into anarchy, fratricide and social and economic unrest. Parliament should remain above party politics and consider measures to dispel the sorrow and hopelessness felt by the nation and the armed forces, to put an end to the anarchy and bring about reforms called for by the constitution. If this cannot be accomplished promptly, the Turkish armed forces, fulfilling their legal duty to protect the republic, will take power."

Running Conflict. The broadcast ultimatum came as a stunning shock to Prime Minister Suleyman Demirel, 46, who was fond of saying that only a parliamentary majority could depose him. But the military left him no room for maneuver, and he quickly resigned.

The last time Turkey's generals overthrew an elected government was in 1960 when they ousted Demirel's predecessor, Adnan Menderes, for corruption and repression, and hanged him. Before returning the country to the politicians, the soldiers framed a new constitution that was adopted in 1961, and they took a certain pride of authorship in seeing it work. The course of government under Demirel was a source of ever-increasing dismay to them.

Over the past three years, Turkey has suffered almost every kind of civil ill. Student leftists, despairing of ever making much impact on Turkey's conservative, peasant-based society, regularly battled police and right-wing students. When 70,000 workers rioted last summer over an amendment to the labor code that would trim the power of radical union groups, order was restored only by the imposition of martial law. Turkey is also beset by poverty, with an average per capita GNP of only $346 a year, and inflation, which led to a 40% currency devaluation last August.

Functioning Normally. Demirel, a onetime engineer turned reform-minded politician, seemed unable to pacify the country's warring factions. He lost considerable personal prestige by using his influence to swing a reported $2,000,000 in bank loans for his two businessmen brothers, Sevket and Ali, and then trying to block a parliamentary investigation of the affair. When four U.S. airmen were kidnaped two weeks ago (see box), Demirel left it to others to appeal to the kidnapers to spare the airmen's lives. His weak performance finally exhausted the patience of Turkey's generals.

Turkey's civil politicians now have the choice of forming a coalition cabinet or rallying round some member of Demirel's dominant Justice Party who would be more acceptable to the army. Either out of fear of an outright military takeover or, more likely, out of tacit agreement with the generals' move, most Turks accepted the change with equanimity. Even the extremist student group Dev-genc (an acronym for "revolutionary youth movement") joined in a declaration of support for any reforms that the military might have in mind.

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