Turkish Government Shaky After Ally Withdraws Support

The government of conservative Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz edged closer to collapse Thursday after a key political leader withdrew his support from Turkey’s ruling minority coalition over its alleged role in a corruption scandal.

Leftist opposition leader Deniz Baykal, whose parliamentary backing is crucial to the government’s survival, signed a no-confidence motion against Yilmaz in the wake of allegations that the premier had helped a Turkish real estate magnate acquire a state-owned bank.

“If there is to be a fair and objective inquiry into these claims, Yilmaz and his government must resign,” Baykal told reporters Thursday.

A defiant Yilmaz insisted that he is innocent.

“This is a conspiracy aimed at undermining my battle against organized crime,” he said. But Yilmaz acknowledged during a live television debate early Thursday that “the next time I appear on this show, it will be as a member of the opposition.”

The allegations against Yilmaz’s 16-month-old pro-secular coalition emerged Tuesday when the Istanbul magnate appeared on television in a prerecorded videotape explaining how Yilmaz had helped him buy the state-owned Turkbank.

The tape was aired just hours after the tycoon, Korkmaz Yigit, had been detained for questioning by Istanbul police on charges of enlisting the help of an alleged Turkish mobster to scare off other businesspeople vying for the bank.

Yigit denied the charges, saying he did not need any help because he was being backed by “the highest echelons of the state.”

The Turkbank affair is the latest in a series of corruption scandals that have alleged an intricate web of links between organized crime, drug traffickers and state officials, including senior police officers.

The main opposition Islamists and a right-of-center party led by former Prime Minister Tansu Ciller have lodged separate censure motions against the government.

Analysts say a no-confidence vote that is almost certain to topple the government could be held in parliament before the end of November.

President Suleyman Demirel on Thursday denied widespread speculation that he will appoint a neutral caretaker government to replace the Yilmaz coalition in the run-up to general elections scheduled for April. He instead insisted that a new government will be formed from within parliament “in keeping with the Turkish Constitution.”

The president is constitutionally empowered to ask the political leader of his choice to try to form a new government, usually the party with the greatest number of seats in parliament. With 144 seats, the Islamists qualify.

Given the pro-secular military’s aversion to the Islamists, the president is considered unlikely to ask them to try their hand.

Even the most seasoned pundits were at a loss Thursday to predict just whom the president will choose.