A Polite Distance

When Premier Suleyman Demirel, 42, swept to power 14 months ago, his victory was credited largely to Turkey's growing disdain for the eager flirtation with Russia carried on by his chief opponent, foxy former Premier Ismet Inoenue, 83. In recent months, however, Demirel has begun some mild flirting of his own. He has received Rumanian Premier Ion Gheorghe Maurer and Bulgarian Foreign Minister Ivan Bashev, sent official delegations to Poland, Russia and Albania. Last week Demirel welcomed his biggest Communist visitor yet: Soviet Premier Aleksei Kosygin, the first Russian Premier ever to visit Turkey.

At first glance, all this might seem to be a radical departure for a man of pronounced pro-West sympathies. But in fact Demirel was simply making gestures that would muffle the critics in Turkey who feel he is too friendly to the West. An ambitious politician with big plans for development and reform, Demirel took office with one stiff strike against him: he was the political heir of ex-Strongman Adnan Menderes, whom the army overthrew in 1960 and executed. As a result, the army was at first suspicious of him, and the left-of-center opposition, led by Inoenue, did its noisiest best to discredit him as a lackey of the U.S. For months the opposition man aged to block every government bill, since Demirel lacked a majority in the upper house of Parliament. Finally, the new Premier undercut Inoenue by softening his stand against the East, wooed two independent Senators into his party, and won the full parliamentary majority that he had lacked at the start. Along the way, he also broadened his support among military men, including Turkish President Cevdet Sunay, a career army general who is in effect the army watchdog over Demirel's government. Thus fortified, Demirel pressed ahead with his development program.

Up to the Ears. For Turkey's 26 million peasants, who represent 80% of the country's population, Demirel is forming cooperatives, liberalizing agricultural credits, promoting the use of fertilizers and modern farm tools, setting up an agricultural college at Erzureem in eastern Anatolia, and building three dams for irrigation and rural power that will help double the country's electrical capacity by 1970.

To spur industry, the government is relaxing controls and offering investment incentives. Nearly all of Turkey's 100 biggest industrial enterprises filed expansion plans during 1966, and new industry is sprouting up. Last week the government unveiled Turkey's first homemade automobile, the Anadol, a sprightly little sedan that will go into production next month. "We are up to our ears in projects," Demirel says excitedly. "There is plenty of copper, lead and zinc in eastern Anatolia. There is some oil. There are magnificent stands of hardwood and softwood timber. Tobacco is already thriving around Izmir. There is great potential for livestock. Our Mediterranean coastal beaches could bring us $100 million a year from tourism."

Neighborly Intentions. Moscow clearly hopes to join in the expansion. Since 1965, it has been offering Turkey a $200 million industrial-aid package, which Demirel has shrugged aside. Last week during six hours of talks wedged in among the wreath layings, factory tours and cocktail parties, Kosygin repeated the offer; this time, the two countries appeared close to agreement on at least a sulphuric acid plant and a wood-products factory. When Demirel raised objections to a recent $1,400,000 Czechoslovakian arms shipment to Greek Cypriots, for possible use against Turkish Cypriots, Kosygin said he regretted the sale. But it was, he claimed, completely out of his hands. Demirel also chided his guest about Russian ships that refuse to let Turkish pilots guide them through Turkey's tricky Dardanelles straits.

As for his country's Western ties, Demirel emphasized that "Turkey is sticking to NATO." But, he assured Kosygin, that should not interfere with relations between the two countries. As proof of his neighborly intentions, Demirel even accepted an invitation to visit Russia.

All the while, however, Demirel managed to keep a polite, if not downright chilly distance during the seven-day visit. At one banquet, most Moslems present ignored the fact that it was the holy month of Ramadan and broke their daytime fasts to eat with Kosygin; Demirel left his plate untouched. In fact, as one Russian put it, Kosygin felt "underwhelmed" by the reception he got. Possibly by design, possibly not, Demirel's government even picked last week to leak the announcement of a new arms agreement with the U.S. that will provide Turkey with $670 million in military aid between now and 1970.

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