TURKEY: Democratic Purge

Speeding through Ankara just after sunup one morning last week, police squads knocked on door after door. To the men who answered—all key armed forces officers and members of the National Unity Committee that has been running Turkey since the May 27 revolution—the police presented documents, with blunt instructions to sign them immediately. As they complied, the officers found themselves simultaneously resigning from the Unity Committee and retiring from the army. Thus neatly did Turkey's boss, laconic General Cemal Gursel, purge the 14 men who had been opposing his plans to restore democracy...

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