"55 K"

After seven days of martial law, officials of Premier Adnan Menderes' government judged that the tension in Turkey was subsiding. Istanbul students who tried to stage new demonstrations against the ruling Democrats during the three-day NATO foreign ministers' meeting were thrown back by troops. The legislative "inquiry" into the opposition Republicans' "subversive and illegal" activities was already well under way in star-chamber secrecy. At midweek, students in Ankara began bandying about the rallying password "55 K" (translation: May 5 at 5 p.m. at Kizilay Square). The password reached the ears of the police, and the Menderes forces thought they saw an opportunity to organize a counter-demonstration to show the world that the mass of Turks still gave their support to the government. They set to work.

By 5 o'clock, some 60 pro-Menderes demonstrators were on hand in Kizilay Square. Troops arrived and set up a cordon. At 5:40, two limousines carrying Menderes and President Celal Bayar drove up. With a confident smile Menderes jumped out to shake hands. But within seconds, several hundred anti-Menderes students moved in. The carefully planned counter-demonstration was suddenly swamped in a booing crowd.

"Resign! Resign!" Shocked, Menderes tried to stand his ground. With arms outstretched, he called out: "Why do you do this? What do you want?" "Resign! Resign!" shouted the crowd. One student clutched him by the arm and asked: "How long do we suffer at your hands?" The Premier slapped his face, then grabbed him by the waist and called police to take him away. Hair rumpled and necktie askew, Menderes raised his arms again and shouted: "Why don't you kill me?" "No, we don't want to kill you. Resign! Resign!" yelled the crowd. "Then kill me," cried Menderes, placing his right hand over his heart.

Shirttails flapping, the white-faced Premier dogtrotted into the square with his aides at his heels. In the square Menderes found old President Bayar waiting in his Cadillac. The two embraced. There were tears in Menderes' eyes. Friends pushed the Premier into a newsman's Volkswagen, and the little car inched forward to a point where some 100 of Menderes' Democratic partisans were gathered. But when the Premier climbed out, students rushed up to shout "Freedom!" Menderes gave up. Climbing into a third car, he rode away to the presidential palace and the end of the wildest automobile ride a Turkish Premier ever took.

Next day the only newspaper published in Istanbul or Ankara was Menderes' Democratic Party organ, Zajer. Its caption (over a photo snapped just before the storm struck in the square): TREMENDOUS OVATION GIVEN OUR PRIME MINISTER SHOWS AFFECTION OF PEOPLE. But Foreign Minister Fatin Zorlu acknowledged that some 50 demonstrators had been arrested after the "ovation," added grimly: "The parliamentary inquiry will take care of them."

Hero Needed. Discontent with Menderes is not yet general, is confined largely to the big cities. Both students and professors at Turkey's universities are chiefly outraged by Menderes' attempt to dictate what should be taught and what political opinions they should hold. Lawyers are worried by Menderes' highhanded and arbitrary methods of dealing with politicians who offend him. Businessmen are disgruntled by the burdensome import regulations forced on them by Menderes' overambitious development programs. Some army officers are taking alarm at Menderes' willingness to use the army to harass his political foes. At week's end, the chief of Turkey's ground forces, General Cemal Gursel, retired with a pointed statement to his troops: "At this moment when a political storm is blowing over the country, know how to protect yourselves from this nefarious atmosphere. Keep out of politics at all costs."

Ismet Inonu and his opposition Republicans have gained in popularity for their defiant criticism of Menderes' measures. But too many Turks remember the ironshod rule Inonu himself imposed on the nation during his Presidency (1938-50), have difficulty in believing wholeheartedly that he has mellowed into a champion of democratic liberty. So far, Turkey's demonstrators are still looking for a hero.

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