Saturday, Jul 13, 2002
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By Batuk Gathani
Turkey's struggle for stability has been intensified by the resignation of the Foreign Minister, Ismail Cem, who now assumes leadership of a new pro-European Union political alliance. The situation has become critical with several parliamentarians also leaving Mr. Ecevit's party and the Government teetering on the edge of collapse. The country's currency, the lira, has fallen to a record low against the dollar. More than half of Turkey's massive foreign debt is linked to foreign exchange. It is argued that as the lira depreciates, the debt payment would become more burdensome but the country is pressing on with the next stage of a $16-billion aid programme from the IMF. The investors are demanding very high interest rates and at Thursday's treasury bill auction, the Government was forced to offer a 76.5 per cent interest on its 154-day paper. Mr. Ecevit is 77 and his ill-health has sparked the current political crisis with the Government remaining dysfunctional for some time. Although frail and ailing, Mr. Ecevit is giving no signs of wanting to stand down. Instead, he is busy structuring a new "reformist alliance". According to Turkish and European media reports, the power and influence wielded by Mr. Ecevit's wife provoked politicians and close allies of the Prime Minister to desert him. Although Mr. Ecevit described the allegation as "a crude and ugly'' campaign, sections of the Turkish press continue to paint Mr Ecevit as a "prisoner in his own home and neglected by his 80-year-old wife and life-long companion, Raisin Ecevit". Mrs Ecevit has a firm grip on the party organisations — she is the deputy chairperson — and has strong personal likes and dislikes. Now, however, the tide is turning against Turkey's first lady. According to Western press reports, Mrs Ecevit's hatred for Ozkan (Deputy Prime Minister who was sacked last week), has alienated the party's A-team and the present crop of Ministers being sworn in as replacement have no other virtue than not having offended Mrs. Ecevit. Mr Ecevit's party has only 96 seats in Parliament and its nationalist allies have 127 seats, but the coalition agreement calls for Mr Ecevit to remain Prime Minister even if his party loses members. The Prime Minister is also respected as the longest serving and "cleanest" Turkish leader who has been active in politics for five decades. He is also a poet and noted scholar of Sanskrit and has translated the Gita into Turkish. . Turkey is the world's most admired secular and modern Muslim country, and is often rated as a cultural bridge between Asia and Europe. It has aspirations for full membership of the European Union and submitted its membership application in 1987.
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