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Show EDITORIAL: Inonu's Misadventure The May 14 Turkish elections offer ample illustration that fa-cism fa-cism and communism are not the only forms of government under which modern man may live, despite accusations now being hurled at each other by the two extremist nations, the Unitd States and Russia. On May 14 a reactionary dictatorship, dic-tatorship, in power ever since 1923, was overthrown, and a new government, based on democratic dem-ocratic principles, was voted into in-to office by the people of Turkey. Tur-key. Only time will tell what the attitude will be toward world ,and domestic problems of Celal 'Bayar and his new Democratic party government. But at the outset this much seems probable: the new government will be anti-communist, will end discrimination dis-crimination against private capital capi-tal while continuing certain state enterprises, will encourage foreign investment, and will give labor the unhampered right to organize and strike. At long last President Ismet Inonu and his People's party are on the outside of office looking in, and the Turkish people are rejoicing at the crumbling of one of the world's few remaining remain-ing facist strongholds. Twenty-seven years ago a powerful group seized power when Kemal Ataturk set out to modernize the country. There followed rapid industrialization, but nothing was done by the Ataturk At-aturk regime to democratize Turkey or to raise the people's living standards. After the death of the leader, Ataturk, Inohu assumed control of the ruling People's party, which day by day became increasingly corrupt, cor-rupt, inefficient, and unpopular. Under the Turkish constitution the party alone could nominate candidates and supervise elections, elec-tions, and bills could not be presented pre-sented to the Assembly without its approval. It held the nation's purse strings and appointed government gov-ernment officials. With such broad powers Inonu In-onu shortly succeeded in building build-ing a huge bureaucratic govern- ment, Invincible under a system of forceful suppression and elaborate elab-orate intrigues. Inonu's downfall was assured last winter when, believing him-! sef and his party strong enough to win in a free election, he authorized passage of an election elec-tion law permitting Turkey's eight million voters to cast their ballots secretly and have them counted impartially. This action came as a climax to his activities activ-ities following his 1936 bayonet-inspired bayonet-inspired election. In the last four years Inonu had played the part of both dictator and. democrat. demo-crat. While purging opposition newspapers, banning opposing parties, and suppressing labor unions, by 1948 he had installed closed voting booths, and in 1949 held his first press conference. con-ference. Finally, to silence the opposition opposi-tion Democratic and Nation parties par-ties and demonstrate his own popularity, he felt it safe to call the May 14 election. The result was a popular upsurge that swept him from office. Inonu down, and Franco, Pe-ron, Pe-ron, and the small fry to go; Facism is on its last legs ,and even the Russian propagandists are finding it difficult to sustain sus-tain the vitality of their old scarecrow. GWH |
