MILLIYET- Columnist Fikret Bila comments on Democratic Left Party (DSP) group deputy leader Emrehan Halici’s call for Economy Minister Kemal Dervis to resign. A summary of his column is as follows:
DSP group deputy leader Emrehan Halici yesterday held a press conference yesterday indicating he wanted State Minister Kemal Dervis to make a decision. He emphasized that Dervis would not be able to continue his political contacts with groups which are splitting the DSP. The meaning of Halici’s message is very clear, namely that Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit is calling on Dervis to resign. Husamettin Ozkan was also called to resign this way, and he got the message and resigned, and I wonder if Dervis will follow. Obviously Dervis must have understood the call for resignation that Ecevit sent through Halici. Most probably, he will follow Ozkan. However, another message from circles close to Dervis states that the IMF will release a loan totaling $1.1 billion for Turkey tomorrow and that Dervis will wait for this news. However, in the current atmosphere Ecevit and the government don’t want Dervis to wait for this. In other words, the message to ‘tender your decision in a reasonable period of time’ amounts to ‘resign as soon as possible.’ What brought Ecevit to this point? Why did Ecevit, who previously said that he would not stay if Dervis leaves and also twice asked Dervis to join his own party, decide that Dervis should withdraw? According to circles close to Ecevit and his staff, the story is as follows: ‘The prime minister and the president wanted Dervis to stay in the government, so they got him to withdraw his resignation. However, while they wanted him to stay in the government, they also emphasized that he should keep his political contacts to a minimum level and tend to the economy first of all. Dervis accepted this. However, Dervis increased his political contacts instead of decreasing them. What is more, he continued these contacts in a way that worked against the DSP. He continued to show support for everybody who divides the DSP. This is not a proper way to do things. Dervis was treated with tolerance so he could act properly, but he started to abuse this.’ According to Ecevit’s staff, the latest development that stretched his patience to its limits was Dervis’s contacts in Istanbul: ‘After returning from the US, Mr. Dervis met with Mr. Ecevit. Following this meeting, he said that he would hold political contacts to the degree that his duty as a minister allowed but still concentrate on the economy. However, he proceeded to neglect the economy while dealing with an intensive round of contacts. During his last visit to Istanbul, he met not only with Erdal Inonu, but also with Ozkan. Before these meetings, he also met with former Foreign Minister Ismail Cem. He said that he supported their movement, meaning New Turkey (YT). His meeting with Ozkan stretched Ecevit’s patience to its limits. He is clearly the one who is dividing the DSP and he stated that he would continue to support the YT’s movement. This situation can no longer be endured. If he traffics in politics with people and institutions who initiated a campaign against the DSP, he should leave his DSP chair as a minister and start to deal with politics in the movement which he says he supports.’ What will happen if Dervis wants to continue his duty as a minister in spite of this call? Will he be dismissed from his post? In reply to this question, Ecevit’s staff says, ‘We don’t think that dismissal will be necessary. We think Mr. Dervis got the message and he will do what is necessary.’ This development shows that Ecevit and the DSP have burned Dervis’ bridges. And then the YT and the Republican People’s Party (CHP) remained. If Dervis continues to hold more contacts, these last choices might be decreased to one.

SOURCE: OFFICE OF THE PRIME MINISTER, DIRECTORATE GENERAL OF PRESS AND INFORMATION