Angående IMF-demonstrasjonen i Tyrkia i lørdags - her følger en artikkel med
flere opplysninger (1. april)
Mvh. Bjarke Friborg, internasjonalt utvalg i RV
Saturday March 31 8:07 AM ET Thousands Protest Against IMF in Turkey
By Orhan Coskun
ANKARA (Reuters) - Thousands of demonstrators took to the streets
in cities across Turkey on Saturday to protest at economic reforms
backed by the International Monetary Fund (news - web sites).
Shouting ``IMF go home,'' they gathered mainly in downtown Ankara
and in Istanbul amid a heavy police presence.
The protests came as the government met union leaders and employers
in a bid to muster broad public support for a new economic program
after a devastating financial crisis.
A senior economic official said the government would call for
sacrifices from all sides at a Social Council meeting, including
restraint in upcoming collective wage negotiations.
Economy Minister Kemal Dervis is working on a program of major
structural reforms that he says are essential to win support from
international lenders and the markets.
Dervis, a former senior World Banker, was brought in to take over
the reins of the economy at the start of March after a crisis that
ripped apart an $11 billion IMF program.
``The policies of the IMF and the World Bank (news - web sites) do
not aim to help Turkey but to assure that Turkey can pay its debts
on time and in full,'' said Bayram Meral, president of Turkey's
largest union confederation Turk-Is, in the text of a speech prepared
before the meeting with the government.
Major unions under the umbrella of the Labor Platform say a new
IMF-backed economic program based on the principles of the Fund
will be unacceptable and that protests and stoppages will be the
response. They want wage rises to match real inflation rather than
price targets which have been missed in the past.
``In the program that is being prepared there should be a remedy
for poverty because as in all economic crises the price of this
crisis is paid most heavily by the workers,'' said Recay Baskan,
head of the Hak-Is union confederation.
Friction Within Government
The latest financial crisis was sparked by a political row which
quickly engulfed the markets.
Turkey was forced to float the lira on February 22, abandoning a
crawling currency peg that had been the centerpiece of a three-year,
IMF-backed disinflation program. The lira has since lost around a
third of its value against the dollar.
On Friday, Turkish military and political leaders signaled unity
in efforts to combat the crisis, condemning speculation that the
government could soon fall to make way for an ``interim regime.''
That helped drive shares up 12 percent on Friday.
The High Planning Council, a government forum for economy-related
ministers and bureaucrats, issued another reassuring statement later
on Friday, saying drafts of key reforms would be sent to the prime
minister's office next week, paving the way for swift passing of
new laws.
Worries about apparent friction within the three-party coalition
over Dervis's stewardship and the government's ability to implement
reform laws had sent markets tumbling.
But the military-dominated National Security Council (MGK) tried
to scotch such talk on Friday, saying it had discussed speculation
about an ``interim regime'' -- a euphemism for a non-political
government sponsored, if only tacitly, by the military which has
carried out three coups since 1960.
Turkey reached a framework agreement with the IMF earlier this month
on a new economic program which it aims to finalize with a letter
of intent to the Fund to be signed by the end of April. The IMF
wants to see concrete evidence that Ankara is implementing its
promises, particularly in reforms of the banking sector, before it
will discuss any new lending.
But privatization and reform of state banks which have for years
supported industry via subsidized lending are likely to be painful,
at least in the short term.
``Today in the real economy, production is approaching a standstill,''
said Refik Baydur, head of the Turkish Employers Unions Confederation.
``Our country is facing the threat of major unemployment. The
government has to listen to our demands.''
-- Press Agency Ozgurluk In Support of the Revolutionary Peoples Liberation Struggle in Turkey http://www.ozgurluk.org DHKC: http://www.ozgurluk.org/dhkc
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Thu Apr 05 2001 - 21:49:22 MET DST