Turks protest economic chaos

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Turks protest economic chaos

Government refuses to step down

By SELCAN HACAOGLU Associated Press ANKARA, Turkey -- Police with nightsticks and water cannons battled stone-throwing protesters in the capital Wednesday as more than 130,000 protesters in several Turkish cities rallied against the government amid a financial crisis.

Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit rejected protesters' demands that his government resign over its handling of the crisis. Wednesday's protests were the largest since the lira began plummeting in February, leading to a half-million layoffs.

In the capital Ankara, police fired hundreds of shots into the air and used water cannons and tear gas to disperse a crowd of 70,000 after demonstrators threw stones, bricks, and pieces of wood at police and journalists. Demonstrators smashed the windows of cars, shops, banks and government offices as they fled nightstick-wielding police. Officials said 202 people were injured in the protests, including 137 policemen and more than a dozen news reporters. Police detained 100 people.

At least 40,000 people marched in the Aegean port city of Izmir, and 20,000 people marched through the central Anatolian city of Konya. There were also demonstrations in the southern cities of Gaziantep and Mersin, where protesters set fire to photocopies of U.S. dollars.

Salih Erdogu, an upholstery shop owner who was demonstrating in Ankara, said he was forced to declare bankruptcy due to the crisis.

"I had five workers with me. They are all jobless now and so am I. I am ashamed of this," Erdogu said, tears rolling down his face.

The economic crisis began in mid-February when a feud between Ecevit and President Ahmet Necdet Sezer set off a political crisis that led international investors to withdraw money from Turkey. Labor and merchant groups, which have toppled previous administrations, then challenged the government over the falling lira.

Protesters accuse the government of doing too little to stabilize the economy, and political analysts have speculated that Ecevit's government might fall if the government fails to pass emergency measures soon. Protesters say the government must reform the nation's banking system and relinquish control of key state-controlled concerns like Turk Telekom and Turkish Airlines.

"The government has to offer some kind of urgent and radical relief if it wants to prolong its death," said Ilnur Cevik, editor-in-chief of the Turkish Daily News.

Economy Minister Kemal Dervis has said he would release a widely anticipated economic plan on Friday.

Ecevit insisted Wednesday his government would stay. "I do not believe that the search for a new government would help the country; therefore I am staying at my post, and will stay," he said.

The demonstrations follow Tuesday's call by the Turkish Union of Chambers, Turkey's largest business organization, for the government to resign over its handling of the financial crisis.

During Wednesday's unrest in the capital, army commandos surrounded a military club in the center of the city to protect it from possible attacks. Police snipers wearing black ski masks deployed in the middle of the streets holding automatic weapons.

Turkish officials opened talks with an International Monetary Fund delegation Sunday on the details of a recovery program, and are looking for $10 billion to $12 billion in foreign loans. The IMF has already promised to speed up $6.25 billion in loans that were previously pledged. Ecevit

"If they are shouting, `resign,' they also have to provide an alternative. I am not glued to my chair."

http://www.charlotte.com/observer/natwor/docs/turkey0412.htm

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), April 12, 2001


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