Turee a N.f. Coalition Near Split

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Since the October general strike forced the defeat of proposed legislation to set up special courts, the National Front coalition government in Turkey has gradually been losing its grip on power.

This was clearly reflected in the speech two weeks ago in which Prime Minister Demirel referred to the difficulties of governing, and talked of an early general election.

A week later Demirel had discusssions with top military chiefs and talked about the prospects of imposing a fresh curfew and further military intervention.

Meanwhile the other coalition parties have begun to attack Demirel and announced they are 'considering' whether to remain in the government.

But the biggest threat to the government remains the growing strength of the working class. Dozens of strikes have broken out both before and since the general strike. The inability of the coalition government to introduce special laws to repress these struggles drove the bourgeoisie to rely increasingly on fascist forces and military intervention to preserve its power.

KILLED

In the last two months alone 35 workers have been killed in clashes - as against a total last year of over 135 -with thousands wounded.

In many cases armed battles have taken place on the streets, lasting for hours. Even the general secretary of the bourgeois party the RPP has been attacked by fascists.

The impact of the economic crisis on Turkey is severe. Inflation is now at more than 30%, while 5 million are unemployed: a huge trade deficit is accumulating and the IMF has relused to give any credit to the regime. These factors all spur on the attacks of the bourgeoisie.

The continuing talks between the government and the Common Market -seeking to prevent protective measures which would hit Turkey's textile industry - and the policies of the NF regime on Cyprus and the Aegean Sea help to deepen the splits among the coalition parties.

Meanwhile the US has imposed a military and economic embargo on Turkey in an effort to force the Demirel government to concede some part of occupied Cyprus - but opposition to such a step is threatening to break up the As this crisis deepens RPP leader Ecevit, the main bourgeois opposition leader, did not respond to Demirel's talk of an early election. He is clearly biding his time until the Demirel coalitio:1 fa Is of its own accord.

But the leaders of the Communist Party in Turkey continue to support Ecevit - in this way failing to oppose the government measures to preserve its rule.

And while the Moscow-line Stalinists following a popular-front position abstain from the fight against Demirel, the Maoists have gone back even further back in the history of Stalinist betrayal, and adopted the ultra-left theory that reformist organisations are "social fascist"

This theory was the reason why last week the Maoists physically attacked a 100,000 strong demonstration organised by TOB-DER (Teachers Associations) and TUM-DER (Public Sector Workers Associations) against inflation. Maoists attack