MILLIYET- Columnist Fikret Bila writes on Deputy Prime Minister Husamettin Ozkan's quitting the Democratic Left Party (DSP) and his resignation from his post as state minister. A summary of his column is as follows:
Yesterday's developments were no surprise. It has been apparent for quite some time that Ozkan was being driven to part ways with Prime Minister Ecevit, especially after Ecevit made his distrust of Ozkan known to the public. Ozkan's resignation was partly due to the uneasiness shown by Ecevit for Ozkan's -- together with some of his colleagues -- remaining silent in the face of heavy criticisms and accusations against Ecevit himself. However the underlying reason was of a more substantial one: the search for a different government model in which Ecevit would not take part and Ozkan would take over the prime ministry. Ecevit knew that this particular model was supported by one of the coalition partners, namely the Motherland Party (ANAP) and its leader Mesut Yilmaz; and by some major business and media representatives. Ecevit did hope that Ozkan would oppose such a government alternative which would bypass Ecevit altogether. But Ozkan's attitude proved to be quite the opposite; together with others who showed commitment to this alternative government model, the conviction that Ozkan, too, was expecting that Ecevit would leave his post got even much stronger. Upon these developments Ecevit sacrificed Ozkan, some of his ministers and some of his MPs. The fact that Ozkan quit the government and the DSP but did not leave his post as a parliamentary deputy shows that, in the very near future, he can take other positions in the political arena. According to some rumors, Ozkan and those MPs who quit the DSP, are to assemble in a new political formation. It is expected that Foreign Minister Ismail Cem and State Minister Kemal Dervis would also take sides with Ozkan. After all, the fact that with the resignations the DSP now has far fewer deputies than the Nationalist Action Party (MHP) can be seen as a serious setback to Ecevit's prime ministry; thus he can resign. Today Ecevit will come to a decision, after a meeting with his coalition partners, as to whether to leave or not.
SOURCE: OFFICE OF THE PRIME MINISTER, DIRECTORATE GENERAL OF PRESS AND INFORMATION