Papers rue Turkey's sacrifices as IMF pact crumbles By Ayla Jean Yackley ANKARA, Feb 23 (Reuters) - "All of our sacrifices have been in vain. Eighteen months of our lives are stolen," declared one Turkish daily on Friday, echoing widespread bitterness after the national currency lost over a quarter of its value in one day. Fear of political instability this week sent markets into chaos. Forced to abandon its controlled-currency regime, the government floated the lira on Thursday. The press lamented the unravelling of a three-year $11 billion International Monetary Fund programme which aimed to ease Turkey's chronic inflation and reform its economy in line with European Union criteria. "We became poor in one day," wrote columnist Hasan Cemal in mass-circulation Milliyet. "Forty percent of the money in our pockets disappeared. Our debt burden has grown. We lost a year and a half of our lives. The flotation effectively killed the IMF pact -- and dashed Turks' hopes that belt-tightening under the programme would pay off. Many considered the programme a source of prestige and quietly endured low pay raises and cuts in social security. "Now we're looking at a blank slate," he said. "We need a new package -- but with the old crew?" Blame for the crisis falls mainly on the government. Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit on Monday burst out of a meeting with the president, accusing him of poor manners and saying a "serious crisis" had erupted. The currency plunged 28 percent and continued its decline on Friday to almost 35 percent below its pre-float level. "In a democracy, leaders are held responsible for failure," said Okay Gonensin in Sabah newspaper. "In Ankara, the leaders declare they failed, but everyone remains in place with the same words, the same pleas for sacrifices from the people." The mainstream press avoided calling for Ecevit's resignation. Few want to see his three-way coalition, Turkey's most stable in years, topple for lack of a clear successor. But many Turks expect ministers tainted by crisis to step down. "Does anyone remember the institution of resignation?" asked Ismet Berkan in Radikal. "The government broke its word, we've all become poorer. The crisis is not over and there doesn't appear to be a new program." But Guneri Civaoglu in the Milliyet newspaper cautioned against upsetting the coalition's delicate balance. "If we mutiny on the stormy sea, then the risk is that the ship will slip even further out of control and head for the rocks," he wrote. _______________________________________________ Marxist-Leninist-List mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] To change your options or unsubscribe go to: http://lists.wwpublish.com/mailman/listinfo/marxist-leninist-list
