NIXON, ERIM: SEALED IN BLOOD

The violent deaths of three NATO technicians and their urban guerrilla kidnappers has once more brought the bloody struggle between the Turkish military regime and its young opponents into the headlines.

The technicians, two of them from Britain, were kidnapped as hostages for the lives three young guerrilla fighters facing death by hanging in a military prison near Istanbul.

The three condemned men, Deniz Gezmis (24), Yusuf Aslan (25), and Huseyin Inan (22), were sentenced under martial law proclaimed when the army overthrew the constitution after a coup d'etat on March 12, 1971.

Their alleged crimes do not carry the death penalty under civil law, yet the sentences were approved by the National Assembly, now little more than rubber stamp for the military dictators.

The Senate also rushed through its approval of the death sentences in direct violation to its own statutes.

All the accepted legal procedures were set aside to enable President Cemet Sunay to sign the death warrants on March 23 The three victims, who could be hanged at any time, are not the only class-war prisoners awaiting execution in the Turkish government's jails.

Another group of three young fighters, Necmi Demir, Yamil Dede and Ziya Yilmaz have also been sentenced to death after perfunctory court martial.

In this way, the regime hopes to cow the working class into submission and seal in blood its destruction of the Turkish workers' democratic rights.

The Sunay dictatorship has the full backing of NATO and British and US imperialism in carrying out these actions. The three kidnapped technicians were on loan the Turkish air force under a NATO agreement.

While Sunay was signing the death warrants March the other partner in his reactionary conspiracy, premier Nihat Erim, was in the United States for talks with the archimperialist Richard Nixon.

Erim's five-day visit prepared new plans for closer collaboration between the Us and the right-wing military dictatorships of the E Mediterranean.

points the common declaration issued by the two government leaders make this abundantly clear Nixon and Erim agreed that there must be a close alliance between the two countries and also that NATO is vital for the security of Turkey, US and its other member-countries.

This statement is a continuation of the policy contained in previous joint agreements, which recognize America's right to intervene Turkish internal affairs at times of crisis.

For example, if there is a civil war or state of emergency. the 40.000 US troops stationed in Turkey cond deployed to support the government.

Under the new agreement, America undertakes to contribute 35.000m Turkish pounds (about £1,000m) the reorganization of the Turkish armed forces. Turkey already has 600,000 men under arms-the largest army in the Middle East and the fourth largest in the world.

Sixty per cent of the Turkish budget is spent on the armed forces. The huge new injection of. US aid was asked i tection the Turkish Military (the supreme armed forces body) in a ten-year military develop. ment plan.

In addition to this aid injection, Nixon promised Erim would increase the military aid already in the pipeline from £23m to £40m.

At Erim's request, the US will send technical •experts to modernize the armed forces, and supply, among other modern weapons, the F-5 fighter-bomber.

Direct US development aid for the Turkish economy is to be raised from f15m to over f20m and in addition Nixon has arranged for the military dictators to have generous World Bank loans.

The Bank's chairman Robert McNamara a former US Defence Secretary. He has promised that in addition to over £50m already carmarked for 1972; a further f6m will be given under certain specified conditions.

The World Bank has also promised over £15m to modernize Istanbul as a Middle Eastern metropolis.

No wonder Erim expressed his fulsome gratitude. He even wrote to former President Truman expressing his admiration for your efforts which have contributed SO much to the friendship and collaboration of our nations (Truman set in motion the post-war development of America's military alliance and the formation cordon sanitaire against the Uss and the other workers' states.)

Nixon's bounty is the pay-off to Sunay and Erim for service to imperialism in carrying out last year's military coup and suppressing the resistance of the Turkish workers.

Behind Nixon's generosity is the fortification of the counterrevolutionary regimes in Greece, Turkey and Iran against the threat of revolution in the At the same time, Nixon wants to pull Turkey away from America's economic rivals in the Common Market and speed up the preparation of war with the Soviet Union and the other workers' states.

An essential aspect of this plan is the plot to partition Cyprus between the Greek and Turkish militarists. Both Erim and the Greek colonels have presented ultimatums to Cypriot President Makarios demanding a government reshuffle in line with the requirements of NATO and the two neighbouring dictatorships.

Erim and Nixon agreed to the settlement of the Cyprus question by discussions between Turkey and Greece and the United Nations. This is a heavy blow to the self-determination of the Cyprus peoples, whose fate on this basis will be decided behind their backs.

US imperialism needs to carve up Cyprus in order to guarantee its security in the Middle East. Its ultimate aim is to divide Cyprus between the two military dictatorships.

This alliance sealed in blood is also about to receive the imprimatur of the Kremlin. President Podgo 'ny of the Soviet Union is due ti begin a week's state visit to Tu key on April 11.

colester су Арті 7, 1872 Merbaro Prasa, Prtdery Aprll 7, 1072 PAOR?