Word: junta
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Well, almost. Incidents of renewed terrorism marred the junta's uneasy post-coup honeymoon. Vowing opposition to the military regime, leftist guerrillas ambushed and killed a tank captain in Adana and a senior police officer in Istanbul. A left-wing extremist was killed in Istanbul when friends tried to free him from police custody. In the meantime, the military's roundup of suspected extremists continued, with more than 2,000 under arrest by the end of the week, and the offices of some 150 labor unions were closed down. The junta also ordered citizens to remove all political...
...military's pledge to return the country quickly to civilian rule, as it did following the interventions of 1960 and 1971. The first military regime lasted 17 months, the second 30 months, but everybody agrees that Turkey is in worse shape this time. After the 1971 takeover, the junta sank rapidly in public esteem when it adopted brutal but effective tactics against leftist terrorists. Says a Western diplomat in Ankara: "The generals' dilemma is that, if they repeat the strong-arm tactics of 1971, they will lose the good will of the West, on which they depend...
...then, should the generals think they can put down the rising wave of terrorism since they have come to power? For one thing, they plan to reorganize the police force, making it as free as possible of political factionalism, and they are hoping that judges and prosecutors under the junta will be less fearful of threats and reprisals so that they will hand down stiffer sentences...
Nonetheless, in the early days of the junta's rule, most Turks seem to agree that the takeover has given the country a badly needed respite. Said Orhan Koloğlu, a former aide to Ecevit: "I like to walk two or three miles every day, but I haven't been able to do it lately; I was afraid for my life. Now I know I shall be safe. In a month's time, there may be cause to be frightened again. But for the moment, this is a welcome change...
When news of Somoza's death reached Managua, Nicaraguans went wild with joy. Thousands of people poured into the streets, singing and dancing and setting off fireworks. Said a journalist in Managua: "Somoza finally brought happiness to his countrymen." The leaders of the ruling Sandinista junta denied any direct role in the assassination. In a brief communiqué, they called it ajusticiamiento-justifiable execution -reminding their followers that the dictator had been responsible for the deaths of 100,000 Nicaraguans. Concluded one Sandinista simply: "Divine justice...