Turkey Approves Islamic-led Government

ANKARA, Turkey: The first Islamic party to form a government in modern Turkey narrowly won a vote of confidence Monday under a leader who had promised to yank the staunch U.S. ally out of NATO and evict thousands of strategic U.S. troops from the country. But since his election as prime minister last month, Necmettin Erbakan has backed away from his opposition to the West and said that attaining full membership in the European Union would be one of his party's "ultimate goals." TIME's James Wilde reports from the Turkish capital: "Erbakan has made a 180-degree turn in policies. He says that he will govern under the principles of secularism and democracy, words that he had never used before coming to power." After Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz was forced to resign last month, many Turks believed it would be difficult for Erbakan's Welfare Party, or Refah, to form a coalition, especially since it did not enjoy the support of the traditionally secular military. However, the recent government's paralysis in the face of high inflation, crippling debt and rising unemployment has prompted middle-class Turks to turn to Refah as an alternative to the secular government. Wilde reports that Erbekan might have trouble sticking by the rules of democracy and secularism when he contends, inevitably, with the more extreme members of his party. "Whatever Erkeban does," adds Wilde, "the feeling in Turkey is that is it bound to be better than the disastrous government that came before." Chris McKenna