Word: demirel
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Even before the Sismik entered the Aegean Sea, the Greek government had angrily threatened naval intervention, and last week it demanded a U.N. Security Council session to stop the Turkish ship. Retorted Turkey's Premier Suleiman Demirel: "Interception of the Sismik will be an act of piracy. Short work is made of pirates...
...style had hung on, but by a margin so slim that it left the government with an uncertain mandate. Ecevit, whose Republican People's Party favors bigger social welfare programs and a strongly nationalist foreign policy, racked up big majorities in Ankara, Istanbul and other big cities. But Premier Demirel's support of free enterprise and his appeal to traditional religious values carried the normally conservative rural areas and older voters...
...Assembly seats, though it lost a bit of strength in the less important Senate. Almost everyone recognized the off-year election as really being a national referendum between the country's two main parties, and a popularity contest between Turkey's two best-known politicians. In the overall vote, Demirel's party got 41 % (up 11 % from 1973), while Ecevit's R.P.P. scored 43.8%, a 10% gain. Only scraps were left for four minor parties that previously shared one-third of the vote. This meant Turkey might well return to a stable two-party system in the next general election...
...Demirel's coalition government faces pressing, immediate difficulties. The Premier had put off any new initiative to resolve the Cyprus crisis until after the election and until the U.S. Congress lifted its embargo of arms to Turkey. Demirel's real problem is that the National Salvation Party, a critical partner in his coalition, opposes any concessions to Greece or to Greek Cypriots that would affect Turkish military occupation of two-fifths of the divided island. The Premier could thus bring down the government if he pushes for a Cyprus accord acceptable to Athens...
...Demirel has reportedly assured President Ford that he will try for a settlement. Turkey's invasion and occupation have already cost $1 billion, roughly 3.7% of the G.N.P. in a country that has 13% unemployment and 20% inflation. Moreover, new aid and arms packages come before the U.S. Congress later this winter, and lack of movement on Cyprus could prompt another embargo...