Tansu Çiller to appear in commission

ANKARA

Heads and members of the union formation dubbed the Quintet Civil Initiative, which issued a joint declaration against the government in the run up to the Feb. 28 process, as well as the deputy prime minister at the time, Tansu Çiller, are expected to appear before the Parliamentary Coups and Military Memorandums Inquiry Commission next month.

The Quintet Civil Initiative was composed of the-then executives of the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB), the Confederation of Turkish Labor Unions (Türk-İş), the Confederation of Revolutionary Trade Unions (DİSK), the Confederation of Turkish Craftsmen and Tradesmen (TESK), and the Turkish Confederation of Employers’ Unions (TİSK).

The Feb. 28 process refers to the harsh army-led campaign that forced Turkey’s first Islamist prime minister, the late Necmettin Erbakan, to resign in June 1997.

The Quintet Civil Initiative, which mobilized opinion against the government, is seen as one of the driving forces of the post Feb. 28 process.

The so-called Civil Initiative issued a declaration including the following sentences on May 21, 1997: “Fundamentalism has become a serious threat to the democracy of Turkey. People have no trust in the government. A new and reliable government should be formed in the shortest time possible.” The declaration was issued a month before Erbakan resigned.