At a most unexpected time, while the tripartite coalition was working in harmony to come to grips with urgent national problems, having left behind the thorny question of the new president’s election, a serious problem emerged last week with the decision by four MHP members to refer Mesut Yilmaz to the Supreme Court. Leaving aside the absurdity of attempting to take legal action against the leader of a coalition partner for no reason at all, the MHP parliamentarians’ move is extremely difficult to explain.

Among the eight charges against Mesut Yilmaz concerning the previous parliamentary term, there are some unpleasant ones, such as his direct or indirect contacts with some contractors or mafiosi such as Alaattin Cakici when he was the Prime Minister or before that time. The MHP could perhaps take action about some of them with a little justification, but not doing that and bringing up Mesut Yilmaz’s most justified and useful move as a reason for taking him to the court is simply inexplicable without the appraisals and analysis below. In that respect, it is an alarming eye-opener for the future of political stability in Turkey when the pieces are put together carefully and objectively.

The surprising thing about the four MHP members’ strong action against their coalition partner is that no corruption charge is involved in the whole affair. It concerns the Yilmaz-Ecevit Government’s decree to allot some crown land to the Ford-Koc partnership in Kocaeli to build a car factory, with a pledge of $1 billion exports a year, and a university and several educational facilities for students, at their own expense. True that the vast lands previously belonging to a State-owned paper mill were given to the the Koc-Ford partnership for free. It was such a profitable business deal for Turkey that President Demirel said about criticisms at that time that he was ready to allot the Presidential palace premises and land free for any similar offer. It should be pointed out that the university and educational facilities to be built by the Ford-Koc partnership will cost them $60-70 million.

The relevant decree was also signed by Ecevit and other ministers of the Mesut Yilmaz Government and if there was any corruption or irregularity about it, they should all take the responsibility. Singling out Mesut Yilmaz and taking legal action only against him is not compatible with justice. That is why PM Ecevit urges Mesut Yilmaz to enter the Cabinet now to show the whole world that they are not taking these charges and claims seriously. Yilmaz declined to comply remarking that he is honour bound to the nation not to take up any official duty before the whole corruption charges against himself are cleared up. In return, the solidarity and friendship between the two parties, particiularly between Ecevit and Yilmaz was further consolidated as the sole pleasing aspect of the whole affair.

Naturally this adventure on the part of the MHP brought up the big question: why, and perhaps it was the second pleasing point of this affair as it was an important eye-opener for the quarters in charge of Turkey’s political and economic stability. Why has the MHP taken such an unwise decision at such a critical time of the coalition government and why has its chairman, Devlet Bahceli, proved to be behind the four MHP members in question?

The MHP’s notorious activism, indeed terrorism, in the seventies and eighties through its side forces, the Ulkuculer or Grey Wolves, were externally planned acts aimed at disrupting Turkey’s development in parliamentary democracy. It was difficult for the DSP to make a coalition with the MHP when the April 1999 general election returns dictated to Turkey such a tripartite coalition as a necessary evil. The notorious past of the MHP was common knowledge, but its new leadership and new tendencies were big question marks for all.

The relatively new Chairman of the MHP, Devlet Bahceli, by and large, proved to be a responsible stateman as the first deputy prime minister of the Ecevit Government during his first year in power. Thanks to Bahceli’s leadership the MHP helped the coalition government to work efficiently in coming to grips with urgent national problems and scores of bills were passed by Parliament including two constitutional amendments during this period.

The latest irrational move against Mesut Yilmaz, however, is an exception and the scrutiny of the existing conditions in the country evokes the suspicion that Bahceli is not any more immune from these external influences as his predecessor was. Some organic ties between the MHP activists of the seventies and eighties and the superpower intelligence organisations were undeniable. The first year in power rose hopes that the new MHP under Devlet Bahceli’s leadership was quite different. This latest unwise move, however, proved that this optimism may not be warranted at some critical points, given the timing. This, for its part, necessitates that Devlet Bahceli should be watched more closely before he can be given the credit of a national leader immune from external influences.

The latest crisis, which is still not totally over as there will be voting at the parliamentary floor, coincided with a number of vital votings in parliament to ratify the Caspian oil and gas agreements. The realities written in Turkpulse’s latest issue (issue No:16 ) stirred up enough excitement abroad and Energy Minister Cumhur Ersumer came under fire in Parliament to reveal the highlights of the agreements for gas imports from the Russian Federation. When he declined to do so because he was not authorised to reveal State secrets, Parliament held a secret session for oil and gas agreements.

The MHP bomb that blew up coalition stability and solidarity coincided with these developments. It was obvious that external forces had put enough pressure on the MHP leadership in a desperate attempt to stop this agreement ratification process.

Devlet Bahceli first supported the four MHP members’ votes against Mesut Yilmaz at the investigation committee, but he wisely backed down later on especially when he saw that the Ecevit-Yilmaz solidarity was standing rock solid. As Turkey has had the experience of one of its prime ministers attempting to kill a friendly head of state like President Aliyev, and she did it under external guidance with the help of the same gray wolves, the government agencies in charge of security are bound to be more vigilant about these infiltrations in Turkey’s State Administration.