TURKEY: Pas de Deux

Dance of the Premiers

Rivalry for Turkey's prime-minister-ship has become an ongoing pas de deux. The dance began when Süleyman Demirel, leader of the conservative Justice Party, was named Premier in April 1975. Two years later, Bülent Ecevit, head of the liberal Republican People's Party, elbowed him offstage. But Demirel replaced him in July 1977. Last week Ecevit again succeeded an embittered Demirel, and their stately duet became a throbbing hustle.

Calling his ouster "the first step toward destroying Turkish democracy," Demirel charged that his loss of a parliamentary vote of confidence by ten votes resulted from "the biggest intrigue of...

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