Word: ozal
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Democratic electorates tend to bounce strong leaders out of office when they become overbearing. Even national heroes like Winston Churchill and Charles de Gaulle felt the parting sting of popular rejection at the ballot box. Last week it was the turn of Turkey's President Turgut Ozal, who is sometimes known to his citizenry as "the Sultan" for his imperious ways. Although Ozal's presidential term runs until 1996, his ruling Motherland Party received only about 24% of the vote, leaving the President without a majority in Parliament. The outlook, as the winners began to negotiate with other parties about...
...defeated President had no illusions about his fate. Said he: "The Ozal era is over." Thus ended eight years of strenuous economic growth (9.2% last year), in which Ozal opened Turkey to the West, bullied his countrymen into embracing free-enterprise capitalism and, in the course of backing the U.S.-led coalition in the gulf war, greatly ingratiated himself with George Bush. During 70 foreign trips, Ozal tirelessly emphasized Turkey's strategic importance. More than ever, he insisted, Ankara is vital as a bridge to the Middle East, a bulwark against Islamic fundamentalism, and a force for stability...
...Despite Ozal's reputation abroad, the voters were offended by his high- handed ways, his expensive taste and his lavish patronage to family and friends. Ozal was also blamed for an inflation rate now estimated at 70% a year. Prices were pushed even higher a few months ago after Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz, 43, handed out generous wage increases to public employees in the hope of winning their votes...
...color stand not just for countries but for Presidents, Prime Ministers and potentates whom, in many cases, he knows well and calls by their first name. If a crisis erupts, Bush's instinct is to reach for a telephone. More trouble on the Turkey-Iraq border? Call Turgut Ozal. Another glitch in the trade talks? Call Toshiki Kaifu. For the past 2 1/2 years, the White House switchboard has often been more important to the conduct of U.S. foreign policy than the State Department, CIA and Strategic Air Command combined...
President TURGUT OZAL of Turkey is angry because nearly $1 billion in assistance from the government of Kuwait has yet to be delivered. The Kuwaitis promised Ozal the money last autumn as thanks for his country's membership in the anti-Iraq coalition. The Turks claim they lost millions of dollars in fees by shutting down an Iraqi oil pipeline that cut through Turkish soil. U.S. officials are pressuring the Kuwaitis to pony up a substantial chunk of the aid before President Bush visits Turkey later this month...