Turkey, already in the grip of a major international crisis with Italy and Europe over the fate of the PKK leader, Mr Abdullah Ocalan, finds itself once again in search of political stability, after the National Assembly voted yesterday by 314 to 214 to topple the government led by the Prime Minister, Mr Mesut Yilmaz.
The leader of the conservative Motherland Party, Mr Yilmaz came to power at the head of a minority coalition composed of right and left-wing parties, after pressure from the army forced out the Islamist government of Mr Necmettin Erbakan in June 1997. Mr Yilmaz will now hand in his resignation to President Suleyman Demirel.
The Opposition tabled the censure motions against Mr Yilmaz and the state Minister, Mr Gunes Taner, in charge of the economy, after a businessman charged with corruption, Mr Korkmaz Yigit, revealed in a television broadcast that the Prime Minister had been aware of his criminal connections when he encouraged him to bid for a state-owned bank. Mr Yigit bought the bank for $600 million when it was privatised in August.
Mr Yigit, who had also bought two major newspapers and one television station, has since been arrested, the sale of Turkbank has been suspended and other assets returned to their previous owners. Revelations of ties between mafia bosses, politicians and members of the security forces emerged in November 1996 after a car in which a police chief, a right-wing gangster on Interpol's search lists and a member of parliament were travelling together crashed, killing all on board except the member of Mrs Tansu Ciller's right-of-centre True Path Party. A lengthy parliamentary investigation uncovered an extensive network of ultra-nationalist criminals, with links to the political circles and state institutions. They were involved in money laundering, drug trafficking and political murders. Although several people are being prosecuted, including two deputies whose immunity was lifted, no one has so far been sentenced.
The scandal resurfaced in August when a well-known mafia boss, Mr Alaattin Cakici, accused of several murders, including that of his ex-wife, was arrested in the south of France. Since Mr Cakici, who claimed to enjoy the protection of high-level politicians, was captured, several recordings of his telephone conversations with politicians and prominent business figures have been made public, showing that, among other illegal activities, the gangster had sought to influence the privatisation process.
In the past months, the Prime Minister had announced a drive against organised crime, pointing to the arrest of several underworld figures and their accomplices in state institutions as proof of his government's commitment to a cleaner society. Allegations of his involvement in illegal deals, albeit indirect, struck a fatal blow to his shaky coalition. Confronted by major foreign policy challenges, including its difficult relations with the European Union, and with an economy in urgent need of reforms, Turkey can ill-afford months of political uncertainty.
In recent days, there have been signs of a rapprochement between Mr Yilmaz and Mrs Ciller, arch-rivals who both lead conservative parties. There is speculation that the two could get together and form a government under the leadership of the Democratic Left Party leader, Mr Bulent Ecevit, who is Deputy Prime Minister.
The Turkish National Assembly had voted in June to hold general elections on April 18th, 1999, 20 months ahead of schedule. The new prime minister who will be nominated by President Demirel is therefore only expected to form a caretaker government to lead the country to the polls.
With no real ideology, few ideas, and even fewer principles, political parties are increasingly discredited in the eyes of the population of Turkey.