TURKEY: OPPOSITION LEADER DEMIREL RALLYS SUPPORT FOR COMING LOWER HOUSE BY-ELECTION WHICH MAY TOPPLE GOVERNMENT IN ANKARA

Record ID: 214926

  • Title: TURKEY: OPPOSITION LEADER DEMIREL RALLYS SUPPORT FOR COMING LOWER HOUSE BY-ELECTION WHICH MAY TOPPLE GOVERNMENT IN ANKARA
  • Date: 1st October 1979
  • Summary: 1. SV Tracking shot through the town of Mardim with people lining rooftops, applauding armed convoy with opposition leader Suleyman Demirel waving from bus (2 SHOTS) 0.11 2. MV Tracking shot armed police look on as crowds applaud Demitrel aboard bus (3 SHOTS) 0.22 3. MV Demirel shaking hands with well-wishers 0.30 4. GV PAN Crowd at rally listen
  • Embargoed: 16th October 1979 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: MARDIM, TURKEY
  • Country: Turkey
  • Reuters ID: LVA2RH5SSAFIADATAB398L9PB1AL
  • Story Text: Turkish Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit faces the threat of having to dissolve his government. Mr. Ecevit has already lost his majority in the ruling National Assembly (lower house) due to deaths, defections and resignations, and when the Turks vote in the resulting by-elections for the Assembly and Senate in two week';s time (14 October). Mr. Ecevits' social democratic Republican People's Party (RPP) is expected to loose even more ground to the main opposition Justice Party (JP) under the leadership of Suleyman Demirel.

    SYNOPSIS: Mr. Demirel is confident of winning all or most of the five Assembly seats and the majority of the 50 Senate seats up for election on October 14. The large and enthusiastic welcome he received in Mardim, where he arrived last Saturday (29 September) for an election rally, seemed to support his expectations.

    But it is not just the support of the electorate which Mr. Demirel is out to win. In a parliamentary juggling act of who and which MP's will support which leader, Mr. Demirel is counting on support from other right-wing parties to overthrow Mr. Ecevit when the National Assembly meets again in November after its long recess. Mr. Demirel requires a minimum of 226 Assembly votes to topple the government.

    The state of the martial law declared in Mardim and 18 further provinces has made Mr. Ecevit's government increasingly unpopular. Mr. Demirel homed in on this popular discontent when he told the rally of often ineffectual measures the government had to take to counter Turkey's economic crisis. Mr. Demirel hopes to force a victory in an early general election which might see him back as Premier.
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