Turkey Government Officials

After an 85% voter turnout boosted the pro-Islamic Welfare Party and delivered one of this country's most complicated parliamentary equations ever, Turkish Prime Minister Tansu Ciller resigned Monday to give President Suleyman Demirel a free hand to appoint a premier-designate who he feels can find a majority of 276 seats in the 550-seat assembly. "We are now in a race, a race to form a coalition," Welfare Party leader Necmettin Erbakan told reporters.

Turkey's 73-year-old secular republic is taking a step into the unknown with new Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan, leader of the pro-Islamic Welfare Party and one of the country's most resilient public figures. Just a few years ago, his rivals would laugh mockingly at Erbakan's colorful turns of phrase and speeches about the value of Islam. But since parliament voted confidence in his government Monday, the smiles have belonged to the 69-year-old Erbakan.

A lawmaker from the governing Motherland Party was detained in the shooting death of an opposition member Wednesday inside Turkey's Parliament building as political tension ran high after a major setback for the ruling party in nationwide municipal elections last Sunday. The semi-official Anatolia news agency said that Abdurrezzak Ceylan, from the center-right True Path Party, died from a gunshot wound in the chest.

Veteran Turkish conservative Suleyman Demirel took power again Wednesday in a new coalition government that diplomats say has a tough balancing act to perform if it is to survive more than six months. Challenges facing the new government include annual inflation of almost 70%, an increasingly dangerous Kurdish insurgency and unrest on its borders with the Balkans and the Soviet Union.

Gunmen from the notorious November 17 terrorist gang killed Turkey's second-ranking diplomat in Athens as he drove to work. Greek and Turkish leaders condemned the attack and expressed hope that it would not damage relations between their countries, which are regional rivals. Authorities said three men in a car pulled alongside Deputy Chief of Mission Haluk Sipahioglu's car on a road in suburban Athens and opened fire. Sipahioglu, 46, was taken to a hospital but died in surgery.

Turkish stocks dived after a row between the prime minister and president sparked concern over economic reforms that are vital for the country to secure more financial backing from the International Monetary Fund. The National Index of Turkey's 100 largest companies tumbled 1,486 points, or 14.6%, to 8,683 points, the lowest since Dec. 4. Turkey sold one-sixth of its foreign cash reserves to defend the lira as investors offloaded Turkish assets. The country's central bank sold at least $4.

Mumtaz Soysal, Turkey's controversial foreign minister, resigned with a characteristic flourish Monday, plunging the coalition government of this Muslim nation of 60 million into fresh political crisis. Soysal, of the Social Democratic People's Party, cited "deep differences in our understanding of government" in his terse resignation note to Prime Minister Tansu Ciller, leader of the conservative True Path Party. She lost no time in accepting it. "Mr.

Her rise to power in 1993 seemed serendipitous. Elegant, educated and English-speaking, Tansu Ciller embodied the aspirations of most Turks--and leaders in the West--to keep this Muslim nation and NATO member firmly in the camp of secular European democracies. But over the past year, the applause for Turkey's first female prime minister has turned to dismay.

An escaped convict shot and slightly wounded Prime Minister Turgut Ozal on Saturday, moments after the Turkish leader urged his country to reject violence in his opening speech at the ruling Motherland Party's annual convention. Ozal, 61, who instinctively dived for cover as the gunfire erupted, was shot in the right hand.

New Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan, an Islamist governing with a pro-Western coalition ally, set out a moderate plan of action Saturday that was far from his often radical manifesto. Erbakan charted a middle way between East and West in foreign policy, espoused free-market reforms and paid homage to the country's secularist founder, Kemal Ataturk.