Sudden Election in Turkey
GERSH, GABRIEL
Premier holds voting seven months early to beat off united opposition bloc SUDDEN ELECTION IN TURKEY By Gabriel Gersh Turkey's Democratic administration has made a sudden decision to hold...
...in the 1954 election, as a result, the Republicans won 40 per cent of the votes but were poorly represented in the National Assembly...
...Premier holds voting seven months early to beat off united opposition bloc SUDDEN ELECTION IN TURKEY By Gabriel Gersh Turkey's Democratic administration has made a sudden decision to hold elections on October 27, seven months earlier than they would normally take place...
...Osman Bolukbasi, leader of the Nationalist party, was arrested last June for allegedly insulting Parliament, and is still being held for trial...
...The Democrats reply that their bold economic, policy is needed in an underdeveloped country like Turkey...
...This time, the Opposition hopes that its united front will oust the Democrats in a greater number of districts...
...Since the peasants constitute 80 per cent of the population, a Government victory seems assured...
...But observers, pointing to the united-front agreement recently concluded by the three main opposition parties, believe that Premier Adnan Menderes is trying to give his opponents as little time as possible to present their case to the public...
...The Opposition's chief hope is that its united front will win enough seats in Parliament to exercise a restraining influence on Goverment authoritarianism...
...On the question of Cyprus, all the parties favor partitioning the island into autonomous Greek and Turkish areas, though the opposition groups accuse the Government of failing to take energetic action in the UN and in London...
...Actually, however, the whole controversy over civil liberties holds little interest for the class which will determine the outcome of the elections, i.e., the peasants...
...Of the 523 seats in the present National Assembly, the Democrats hold 441...
...The independent press is opposed to the present administration, but it has few readers in the rural areas, where radio listening is widespread...
...Nevertheless, a Democratic victory in this week's election seems a foregone conclusion...
...The latter are generally satisfied with the present administration, which has provided them with land, credit, dams, equipment and electricity...
...In general, surveys show that the peasants will vote for the Government, while most of the intellectuals, merchants, workers and other city dwellers support the Opposition...
...a large trade and payments deficit, and unofficial devaluation...
...They point out that dozens of factories and dams, thousands of miles of roads, and thousands of new homes have been built...
...The question of democratic liberties is heatedly discussed in the campaign...
...Until 1945, Turkey was under the one-party rule of the Republican party...
...The Democrats' pro-religious policy has further strengthened this allegiance...
...Another obstacle faced by the Opposition is the time limitation on campaign propaganda over the state-owned radio...
...The Democratic party was established in 1945 by several former leaders of the Republican People's (Republican) party, including President Celal Bayar...
...Strikes were forbidden...
...In foreign policy, the various parties are all pro-Western, pro-American and anti-Communist, though the Republicans are less enthusiastic about Turkey's membership in the Baghdad Pact and about accepting any further military commitments...
...today's austerity, it contends, will bring prosperity tomorrow...
...It came to power in 1950, after winning the country's first genuinely free elections, and was re-elected in 1954 by an overwhelming majority...
...The Government describes current difficulties as normal growing pains...
...This largely depends on whether the forthcoming election is genuinely democratic...
...The Government, however, contends that the united-front device is illegal, and it has introduced a bill which would force voters to choose among the various parties...
...Moreover, the present Turkish election law makes no provision for proportional representation...
...The secretary-general of the Republican party, Kasim Gulek, is also expected to be arrested as soon as the High Court of Appeals approves the 16-month sentence imposed on him for violating the law restricting free speech and assembly...
...The Government's long-term development program, which was poorly planned, has caused inflation...
...The new National Assembly will have 610 seats...
...The new Opposition consists of the following: the Republican People's party of the late Kemal Ataturk and former President Ismet Inonu, which ruled Turkey for 27 years: the Freedom party, formed late in 1955 when 19 MPs resigned from the Democratic party in protest against its policies...
...The election campaign is focused almost entirely on domestic issues...
...The Government's crudely partisan policy has recently caused a number of resignations from the Democratic party, including that of Fuat Koprulu, a founder of the party and former Foreign Minister...
...The Democrats defend these measures on the ground that Opposition criticism hinders the country's economic development...
...the Republicans 31, the Freedom party 34 (thanks to further Democratic resignations), the Nationalists 4. and the Independents 13...
...Agricultural and industrial production are up, and the peasants are enjoying a higher standard of living...
...The independence of the universities and courts was virtually abolished, with professors and judges dismissed for their political convictions...
...coffee, in fact, disappears from the market completely from time to time...
...The Opposition also suffers from the fact that some of its members are in prison...
...Parliament passed legislation curbing freedom of speech, press and assembly...
...Journalists and political leaders were jailed for violating the new laws...
...This does not affect the Democrats, since they are always free to broadcast speeches by President Bayar or Premier Menderes as part of their news coverage...
...The real issues in the campaign are social and economic...
...At the same time, Parliament has passed a bill allocating some $40 million for roads and other facilities for the rural population...
...The sanctioning of an opposition party led to the overwhelming Democratic victory of 1950, and for five years the country saw Western-style democracy in action...
...The Opposition charges the Democrats with bringing Turkey to the verge of bankruptcy...
...The cost of living has never been so high, and many commodities are in short supply...
...For the first time, the benefits of modern civilization have begun to reach remote towns and villages...
...As his economic ventures came under increasing fire, however, Menderes became more and more intolerant of criticism...
...the plan is to present in each district the party list with the greatest local appeal...
...the Nationalist party, which is popular in rural areas...
...The Democrats have moved to clinch their victory by granting permission to the peasants to pay their accumulated debts to the state-owned banks over a period of ten years...
...A Peasants' party also exists, but it is poorly organized and lias no Parliamentary representation...
...The official reason was the Government's desire for a new mandate from the people...
Vol. 40 • October 1957 • No. 42
