World Notes Turkey

The defendant in the dimly lit Ankara courtroom last week was expressionless as the prosecutor called for a verdict of not guilty. Bulent Ecevit, three- time Prime Minister of Turkey between 1974 and 1979, had been charged with engaging in political activity, which under a 1982 decree is illegal for former party leaders. But the prosecutor accepted Ecevit's argument that he had been entitled to explain his choice of a political party when he spoke in May at a convention of the party founded by his wife Rahsan.

The not-guilty verdict, demonstrating what Ecevit last week described as the "obvious contradictions" in the law, came as the government of Prime Minister Turgut Ozal prepared to face the voters in this week's parliamentary by-elections.