----- Original Message ----- From: Barry Stoller <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Friday, April 06, 2001 7:00 PM Subject: [downwithcapitalism] FW: Political Instability in Turkey Reuters. Last updated: 06 Apr 2001 17:05 GMT+00:00. Working class unrest grows. Excerpts. ISTANBUL - Angry Turkish demonstrators demanded on Friday that their leaders resign for their handling of the country's economic crisis, but Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit vowed the government would not quit. Police in Ankara used water cannon to break up demonstrations by tradesmen and arrested dozens. Hundreds of demonstrators in Istanbul shouted "The government must resign!" and waved placards reading "You're sucking our blood" and "You're a disgrace to the country." A senior World Bank official said after talks with Ecevit in Ankara that the bank was not likely to provide Turkey with more than the five billion dollars in aid agreed over the past year. Ecevit, whose government has faced a rising chorus of calls to resign this week over the crisis that has slashed the value of the lira by more than 40 percent and depressed wage earners' living standards, said it could withstand the storm. "Right now there's no possibility of another government. We are committed to a responsible evaluation of our position," he told reporters in Ankara after meeting the World Bank vice president for Europe and Central Asia, Johannes Linn. ... Ecevit said the World Bank aid, together with resources from within the country, would allow the government to focus on the plight of workers hit hard by the free-fall of the currency. "Tradesmen definitely have some problems. After the program is prepared, after next week, we'll be looking at the question of domestic resources in particular," Ecevit said. "Once the problem of domestic resources is solved, we'll be able to focus more effectively on the problems of tradesmen and craftsmen, workers and public employees." Turks have flooded the streets of cities across the country over the last week to slam the government, one distraught small businessman flinging a cash register near Ecevit as he left his office early this week. Union leaders, who have organized some of the demonstrations, said they were sure to grow in the days to come, as more working people began to feel the pinch, but that Ecevit's government had turned a deaf ear to their protests. ... A new round of price rises on Friday covering alcohol, tobacco and sugar was likely to intensify popular anger. PLEASE DISREGARD ANY SPAM THAT MAY FOLLOW THIS LINE Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
