‘No Coups,’ U.S. Warns Turkish Military

WASHINGTON — The Clinton administration has warned Turkey’s military leaders that the United States will not support a coup against the country’s Islamist-led government, officials said Friday.

Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said any changes in Turkey’s government should occur “within a democratic context and with no extra-constitutional approach.”

A White House official put the message more bluntly, saying: “No coups.”

In the wake of statements by Turkish generals that suggested they were considering a coup, U.S. emissaries have delivered the American position to that country’s military leaders at least twice in the last two weeks.

Turkey’s military has intervened several times in the nation’s modern history to restore law and order, with at least tacit U.S. support.

But in this case, officials said, a coup might only strengthen the Islamist party of Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan--who has upset the country’s secular elite with plans for limited Islamic reforms--and lead to more unrest.

“We don’t see military intervention as a silver bullet to solve this problem,” the White House official said.

“First, we don’t like coups. And second, it is unlikely to undercut the appeal of Erbakan,” he said. “We have strongly urged the military to defend its ideals but in a constitutional way. . . . We admire the objective, but we don’t think the means are appropriate.”

He said Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott delivered that message to Gen. Cevik Bir, deputy chief of staff of Turkey’s armed forces, during a visit last week to Ankara, the Turkish capital.

This week, as several Turkish generals issued statements that sounded like preludes to a coup, the administration repeated the message, he said.

And on Friday, Albright made the U.S. concerns public.

“We obviously are watching and have been watching the situation very carefully,” she said.

“We have made very clear that it is essential that Turkey continue in a secular, democratic way,” she said.

“We have also made clear that it’s very important that whatever issues are going on there, whatever discussions and whatever changes people are thinking about, that they have to be within a democratic context and with no extra-constitutional approach.”

Turkey, a military ally of the United States in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, has been led since 1995 by an unstable coalition government including both Erbakan’s religion-based Welfare Party and the secular True Path Party.

Erbakan became prime minister last June and stepped up his party’s efforts to promote Islamist schools and other organizations.

He also declared his intention to improve Turkey’s relationship with Islamist-ruled Iran.

On Friday, Erbakan agreed to hand over the prime minister’s office to Tansu Ciller of coalition partner True Path. But it was unclear whether that change would satisfy Erbakan’s military critics, because the Islamist leader appeared intent on keeping the most powerful Cabinet positions for his own party.