TURKEY: Brutal Test for Ecevit

Sectarian violence brings a crisis and martial law

Turkish Air Force jets boomed over the southern provincial capital of Maras, (pop. 136,000) early last week, while crack army and commando units took up positions in the usually quiet milleniums-old market city. But not even that show of Turkish government force was enough to quell thousands of Muslim rioters who rampaged for four days through Maraş, killing 102 people and injuring nearly 1,000. Additional armored vehicles and paratroops had to be moved in. Finally, an exhausted Premier Bülent Ecevit declared martial law in 13...

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