HURRIYET- Columnist Sedat Ergin writes about the causes of the political problems in Turkey and discusses possible solutions. A summary of his column is as follows:
We can compare the unbelievable speed of political developments over the last few days to an earthquake, and the event that triggered this political earthquake was Prime Minister Ecevit’s decision to ask Husamettin Ozkan to resign. This was followed by a proposal by MHP leader Devlet Bahceli to hold early elections on Nov. 3. Then came Ozkan and his allies’ resignation from the Democratic Left Party (DSP). The latest shock was the decision made by Ismail Cem and Kemal Dervis to resign and work with Ozkan. The only way to put an end to these earthquakes is to hold early elections. If we want things to settle then we have to accept that elections are now a must that can no longer be postponed. But the most important question is: Under what government are the elections going to be held? Judging by the latest events, it looks as if the current government is not going to stay in power for very much longer. So one solution to this problem could be to form an election government in which all parties are represented. In the short term this political earthquake is bound to have negative effects. At first glance it seems that it’s the prime minister’s health problems that started all this, but behind this apparent cause lie years of corruption that have dominated Turkish politics. So, we can safely say that the day of elections is going to be a good day for Turkish politics.
SOURCE: OFFICE OF THE PRIME MINISTER, DIRECTORATE GENERAL OF PRESS AND INFORMATION