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SV Turkish Prime Minister Bulent ecevit speaking
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SV PAN SV Parliament in session (7 shots)
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Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved

Background: In Turkey, where serious political riots over the weekend (23/24 December) have claimed nearly 100 lives, martial law has been declared in 13 of the country's 67 provinces.

SYNOPSIS: The decision to introduce martial law was announced by Turkey's Socialist Prime Minister Mr. Bulent Ecevit on Tuesday (26 December) to stem what he described as "an insurrection against the state". It was taken by the government after weekend riots in the south-eastern town of Kahramanmaras where at least 97 people were killed.

The upper and lower houses of the Turkish Parliament met later and by an almost unanimous vote decided to confirm the decision. Martial law will run for two months without renewal in the provinces taking in the capital, Ankara and Istanbul as well as 11 eastern and south-eastern provinces.

Mr. Ecevit said that martial law had become necessary in the face of incidents which had surpassed the dimensions preventable by ordinary measures. Turkish radio reported that the town of Kahramanmaras was quiet on Tuesday after the violence in which 170 people were also wounded. The trouble began on Friday when militant rightists tried to stop the funeral of the left wing teachers..... .....shot dead in earlier incidents. A total of 75 arrests were reported during the subsequent disturbances.

Feuding between factions of the left and right in Turkey so far this year has resulted in more than 600 deaths, almost triple the official toll for all of 1977. The Kahramanmaras incident was by far the worst in a year which began with Mr. Ecevit's minority social democratic government coming to power.

Crack military units were sent to Kahramanmaras over the weekend to reinforce security forces and blankets and food were distributed to those left homeless when 210 homes and 70 business premises were destroyed. The attacks by rightists were on districts principally occupied by leftists and members of the Shi'ite Moslem religious faction in the latest manifestation of deep-seated sectarian differences which have frequently erupted into open conflict.