New prime minister in Turkey
Mesut Yilmaz, of the conservative Motherland Party, was appointed Turkey's new Prime Minister June 30, replacing Necmettin Erbakan who resigned two weeks earlier. During his one year in power, Erbakan of the Welfare party, described in the media as "pro-Islamic," tried to forge closer ties between Ankara and the governments of Iran and Libya. He also took steps to allow women who wish to do so to wear Islamic head scarves in public buildings and change office hours to fit fasting time. Erbakan came under heavy pressure from the country's top military officers and other ruling- class figures to resign recently.

The new coalition government includes the social democratic Democratic Left party and the conservative Democratic Turkey party. Yilmaz was prime minister twice before, in 1991 and 1995, but both of his governments collapsed within months. Instability in Turkey, a NATO member, has worried Washington and other imperialist powers.

Palestinian resistance causes crisis in Israeli government
Demonstrations spread at the end of June in the Gaza Strip, where an Israeli soldier killed a Palestinian youth after firing on Palestinians protesting over land that Zionist settlers had tried to confiscate. In the West Bank town of Hebron, Palestinians threw stones and petrol bombs against Israeli troops. They were enraged by offensive anti- Muslim posters pasted on the front of Palestinian shops in Hebron. The posters depicted a pig in Arab headdress with the word Mohammed written on them. The pig, regarded as an unclean animal by Muslims, was portrayed stomping with one foot on the Koran, the holy book of the Islamic faith, while holding a pen in the other. The arrest of Tatiana Suskin by Israeli police as a suspect of putting up the posters did not diffuse the Palestinian anger.

On June 24, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu narrowly survived a no-confidence vote in the Israeli parliament. A faction in the ruling Likud party, led by foreign minister David Levy, refused to take part in the vote. Levy had threatened to resign from the cabinet after Netanyahu indicated he might appoint Ariel Sharon as finance minister and include him in a three-person "inner cabinet" group governing talks with Palestinian authority president Yassir Arafat. Dan Meridor, the former finance minister, had resigned earlier. Sharon, who refers to Arafat as a "war criminal," was demanding to be placed in charge of negotiations with Palestinians over the status of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. To avoid a split with Levy, Netanyahu named Yaacov Neeman, a former justice minister and corporate lawyer, for the post of finance minister on July 7.

Civil war looms in Cambodia
Cambodia teetered toward civil war when fighting intensified for two days, July 5-6, between the forces of the country's two rival prime ministers Hun Sen and Prince Norodom Ranariddh. Hun Sen's troops spread out across Phnom Penh, the country's capital, with tanks and armored vehicles as he declared July 6 that he had deposed Ranariddh. Ranariddh, who fled the country July 4, called Hun Sen's actions a "straightforward coup" in statement released from Paris. "My generals advised me to leave Cambodia," he said. "They wanted me to leave them a free hand to organize a resistance."

In June, Hun Sen accused Ranariddh of linking up with 1,500 Khmer Rouge guerrillas to bolster his military forces. From 1975 to 1979, the Khmer Rouge under Pol Pot ruled Cambodia with a reign of terror, slaughtering up to two million people. The Pol Pot regime received backing from Washington. Hun Sen came to power after the Khmer Rouge was ousted from the government with the help of Vietnamese troops. The coalition government of Hun Sen and Ranariddh had been in place since 1991.

On July 7, Washington dispatched some 2,200 Marines and three warships to the coast of Cambodia, saying they could be used to evacuate U.S. citizens.

Thailand's economy is reeling
Facing a debt crisis, the government in Thailand freed the national currency, the baht, from tight exchange controls July 2. The baht immediately plunged more than 17 percent against the U.S. dollar. The investment house Asia Equity Ltd. reported corporate profits could drop 60 percent this year, and with a devalued currency Thai companies could fall further behind on debt payments. Government officials hope the baht will stabilize and international investors will pump more capital into Thailand.

Thai corporations owe some $45 billion in short-term debt that comes due in the next 12 months. An article in the July 3 Wall Street Journal noted that "the Thai crisis has some similarities to the Mexican meltdown in late 1994." Some investment officials assert that Bangkok will need a "rescue package" like the $50 billion deal extended by the International Monetary Fund and the U.S. government to the Mexican regime to pay off international capitalist investors.

Tyson faces 18-month suspension
The Nevada State Athletic Commission voted July 1 to continue the interim suspension of heavyweight boxer Michael Tyson, who was disqualified after twice biting the ears of Evander Holyfield in their June 28 World Boxing Association championship match. According to media reports the boxer could be banned from the ring for 18 months or more. He is also likely to be fined 10 percent of his nearly $30 million purse from the fight.

Going on television to try to explain his action, Tyson said he was responding to being head-butted by Holyfield. "I thought I might lose because of the severity of the cut above my eye... I reacted and did what many athletes have done and paid the price for. You have seen it in basketball with fist fights on the floor and even spitting in the face of an official."

Death penalty in `Megan' case
On June 30 a New Jersey jury voted that Jesse Timmendequas, earlier found guilty of the rape and murder of 7-year-old Megan Kanka, should be put to death. This case was used as the pretext for the passage of legislation dubbed "Megan's Law" - both in New Jersey and nationally - that enables authorities to keep a public record of the names of people convicted of sex offenses.

- BRIAN TAYLOR AND MAURICE WILLIAMS  
 
 
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