From: Press Agency Ozgurluk <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Date: Sat, 31 Mar 2001 17:42:15 +0200 To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: "[Ozgurluk.Org]" Turkey - Thousands protest IMF Saturday March 31 8:07 AM ET Thousands Protest Against IMF in Turkey By Orhan Coskun ANKARA (Reuters) - Thousands of demonstrators took to the streets in cities across Turkey on Saturday to protest at economic reforms backed by the International Monetary Fund (news - web sites). Shouting ``IMF go home,'' they gathered mainly in downtown Ankara and in Istanbul amid a heavy police presence. The protests came as the government met union leaders and employers in a bid to muster broad public support for a new economic program after a devastating financial crisis. A senior economic official said the government would call for sacrifices from all sides at a Social Council meeting, including restraint in upcoming collective wage negotiations. Economy Minister Kemal Dervis is working on a program of major structural reforms that he says are essential to win support from international lenders and the markets. Dervis, a former senior World Banker, was brought in to take over the reins of the economy at the start of March after a crisis that ripped apart an $11 billion IMF program. ``The policies of the IMF and the World Bank (news - web sites) do not aim to help Turkey but to assure that Turkey can pay its debts on time and in full,'' said Bayram Meral, president of Turkey's largest union confederation Turk-Is, in the text of a speech prepared before the meeting with the government. Major unions under the umbrella of the Labor Platform say a new IMF-backed economic program based on the principles of the Fund will be unacceptable and that protests and stoppages will be the response. They want wage rises to match real inflation rather than price targets which have been missed in the past. ``In the program that is being prepared there should be a remedy for poverty because as in all economic crises the price of this crisis is paid most heavily by the workers,'' said Recay Baskan, head of the Hak-Is union confederation. Friction Within Government The latest financial crisis was sparked by a political row which quickly engulfed the markets. Turkey was forced to float the lira on February 22, abandoning a crawling currency peg that had been the centerpiece of a three-year, IMF-backed disinflation program. The lira has since lost around a third of its value against the dollar. On Friday, Turkish military and political leaders signaled unity in efforts to combat the crisis, condemning speculation that the government could soon fall to make way for an ``interim regime.'' That helped drive shares up 12 percent on Friday. The High Planning Council, a government forum for economy-related ministers and bureaucrats, issued another reassuring statement later on Friday, saying drafts of key reforms would be sent to the prime minister's office next week, paving the way for swift passing of new laws. Worries about apparent friction within the three-party coalition over Dervis's stewardship and the government's ability to implement reform laws had sent markets tumbling. But the military-dominated National Security Council (MGK) tried to scotch such talk on Friday, saying it had discussed speculation about an ``interim regime'' -- a euphemism for a non-political government sponsored, if only tacitly, by the military which has carried out three coups since 1960. Turkey reached a framework agreement with the IMF earlier this month on a new economic program which it aims to finalize with a letter of intent to the Fund to be signed by the end of April. The IMF wants to see concrete evidence that Ankara is implementing its promises, particularly in reforms of the banking sector, before it will discuss any new lending. But privatization and reform of state banks which have for years supported industry via subsidized lending are likely to be painful, at least in the short term. ``Today in the real economy, production is approaching a standstill,'' said Refik Baydur, head of the Turkish Employers Unions Confederation. ``Our country is facing the threat of major unemployment. The government has to listen to our demands.'' -- Press Agency Ozgurluk In Support of the Revolutionary Peoples Liberation Struggle in Turkey http://www.ozgurluk.org DHKC: http://www.ozgurluk.org/dhkc _________________________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki Phone +358-40-7177941 Fax +358-9-7591081 http://www.kominf.pp.fi General class struggle news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe mails to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Geopolitical news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] __________________________________________________
