Turkish crisis as finance minister quits

Turkey's economy minister, Kemal Dervis, who was brought back from the World Bank to rescue the country from its worst economic crisis in modern times, resigned yesterday to fight the November elections.

"I will work for the emergence of a choice on the centre-left that reflects modern social liberal theory and that could come to power on its own," Mr Dervis said yesterday. He has been lobbying to create a broad centre-left coalition that might match the appeal of the Islamists at the ballot box.

The departure of Mr Dervis, who masterminded an economic recovery plan that has made Turkey the International Monetary Fund's biggest debtor, could unsettle financial markets. When he tried to resign last month, before being persuaded to change his mind by President Ahmet Necdet Sezer, the markets dived.

Politically, the resignation is a serious blow to the ailing Prime Minister, Bulent Ecevit, whose refusal to delegate power despite frequent spells of ill health has provoked a crisis. Last week the Turkish parliament called elections 18 months early to break the deadlock. Mr Ecevit recruited Mr Dervis more than a year ago to steer Turkey out of its devastating economic crisis, but on Friday he told his economy minister to stop canvassing rival parties or quit.

Mr Dervis, 53, was seized upon as a saviour when he came back to Turkey. Reporters camped for weeks outside his residence, broadcasting his every move. Even his tennis game and American wife made headlines. His popularity has since waned, but he has been instrumental in securing $16bn (£10.5bn) in IMF loans to revive the Turkish economy, brought low by years of state subsidies and corruption scandals. The IMF plan has removed many economic institutions such as the central bank from political control, which means that free spending in order to win electoral support is no longer the option it once was for incumbent governments.

The banker is also widely seen as the best hope for a stable, pro-Western government in Turkey, a Nato member which would have a key role in any US-led strike on its southern neighbour, Iraq. But he himself admits he is a newcomer to the unpredictable world of Turkish politics. "I'm an economist, not a politician," he said in his resignation speech.

Some 23 parties will run in November, most separated more by the personality of their leaders than by policy. Mr Dervis gave no hint as to which party he might join, but has been seen as close to the New Turkey Party, founded last month by the former foreign minister, Ismail Cem, a former deputy premier, Husamettin Ozkan, and other MPs who broke away from Mr Ecevit's Democratic Left Party. "I think that political fragmentation is a serious problem and that we must overcome it. That is where I will devote my efforts," Mr Dervis said.

He has a tough task ahead of him. Opinion polls show the pro-Islamic Justice and Development Party (AKP) far ahead of their rivals with around 20 per cent of the vote. Most other parties appear unlikely to even pass a 10 per cent vote threshold requirement needed to win seats in parliament. This could deal the AKP an even stronger majority, which many fear could lead to a clash with Turkey's staunchly secularist military.

The divided centre-left must unite if it wants to stand a chance against the AKP, but Turkish parties are famously dominated by leaders who often serve for life, regardless of electoral failures, and nurse bitter feuds with other party leaders. "Wish me luck," Mr Dervis said. He will need it.