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SV Ministers leaving office
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SV Minister stops and talks to press
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SV's Other ministers leaving (2 shots)
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CU Mr. Arar talking to reporters
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SV Prime Minister Erim leaving office
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SV & CU's Erim surrounded by reporters (2 shots)
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SV INT. Suleyman greeting members of party in office and sitting
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CU Sleyman (3 shots)
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Initials OS/1644 OS/1702



Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved

Background: In Ankara, the Turkish capital on Wednesday (27 October) Prime Minister Dr. Nihat Erim held crisis talks with his Ministers following the Justice Party's decision to withdraw its support from the Government.

The Justice Party also held a meeting, under its Chairman Mr. Suleyman Demirel, the former Premier ousted by an army ultimatum last March.

The Justice Party has since made it clear that they would not reach a political compromise demanded by the military with Dr. Erim's Government, so the political crisis continues. President Cevdet Sunay has warned that it could have serious consequences for Turkey's Parliamentary system.

SYNOPSIS: Turkish Prime Minister Nihat Erim held crisis talks with his Ministers on Wednesday (27 October) following the Justice Party's decision to withdraw its support from the Government. Prime Minister Erim offered his resignation early in the day because of the Justice Party's withdrawal of its five Ministers in the Cabinet, but later withdrew it on the insistence of the President, backed by the military.

President Sunay on Friday urged the majority Justice Party to reconsider its decision to withdraw support from Dr. Erim's Government. His Republic Day statement said the current political crisis could have serious consequences for the Parliamentary system. A bitter feud has developed between Dr. Erim and Mr. Suleyman Demirel, whose Government was ousted by an army ultimatum last March.

Mr. Demirel also chaired a meeting of his Justice Party on Wednesday, and has since made it clear he would not reach the political compromise demanded by the military. The Justice Party claims Dr. Erim's Government has lost its intended above-party character, and it is opposed to many provisions in Dr. Erim's reform programme, which threatens to strike at the roots of traditionalist Justice Party support. The unyielding Justice Party statements leave no obvious way out for Dr. Erim to revive sufficient Parliamentary support for his wide-ranging reform programme, which the military insist be carried through soon.