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Turkish Government Crumbling

Islamists stand to gain:
Ailing Prime Minister vows to stay on as Cabinet ministers, party loyalists quit

Wednesday, July 10, 2002
By Peter Goodspeed
National Post

Turkey's Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit.
Image Credit: Canada.com.

The last time a religious party came to power in Turkey and experimented with Islamist leadership, the army stepped in and eased it out in a behind-the- scenes "soft coup" in 1997. That sort of sudden instability in Turkey could drastically shift the country's relations with the United States and Israel, changing the face of Middle East politics.

Old, feeble and sick, with ailments that have left him shaken and sometimes confused, Bulent Ecevit, Turkey's Prime Minister, clung to power yesterday, refusing to step down despite resignations from his Cabinet and party.

As the 77-year-old leader defied demands he quit, four Cabinet ministers and 30 former party loyalists fled his Democratic Left Party, calling for new elections or the formation of a new government.

Mr. Ecevit's 2 1/2-year-old administration, a left-right coalition, tottered on the brink of collapse and Turkey seemed to be heading for a crisis that the country's media are describing as an earthquake.

The consequences will be felt far beyond the country's borders. Instability in NATO's only Muslim-majority state would undermine Washington's war on terrorism in Afghanistan as well as U.S. plans to depose Saddam Hussein, the Iraqi dictator.
(More: National Post News Source)
2002 © National Post.

Dan