In general, however, municipal administration comprises an assembly, a council and a mayor. The assembly, which is elected by popular vote, varies in size with the population. The assembly approves the annual budget of the municipality, plans projects, and negotiates loans. It has the deciding vote in disputes between the mayor and the council.

The municipal council is an advisory body set up to assist the mayor who acts as chairman. It consists of a secretary, an inspector, and the chiefs of municipal departments concerned with personnel, health, veterinary, fiscal, legal, and other matters. At least two of its members but not more than half, are elected from the assembly. The council is charged with such functions as checking budgets, hiring and firing of city employees, promotion, traffic control, sewage and utility operation, and the enforcement of municipal regulations. It may operate establishments such as slaughterhouses, racetracks, museums, and public parks. The council's share of revenue includes municipal taxes, duties, license fees, shares in the national taxes, income from municipal properties and enterprises, and fines.

Villages

The principal officer in the village is the headman (muhtar) who is at the same time agent of the central government. He is assisted by a Council of Elders (Ihtiyar Heyeti), consisting of 8 persons for villages of less than 1,000 people and of 12 for larger ones. Both headman and elders are elected every 2 years by popular vote; they are paid from village funds, but some serve without stipend. In addition, the village schoolteacher and Moslem prayer leader (imam) also sit on the council. The schoolteacher is, however, paid by the Ministry of Education. The imam may be selected by the villagers, but his appointment requires permission from a board in the Office of Religious Affairs.

As headman, the village leader supervises the planning and operation of village projects and services. As representative of the central government he administers directives handed down to the village. He speaks for the village in dealing with higher authorities, receives officials, maintains order and security, and reports crimes. He collects village taxes, administers loans and village funds, identifies villagers and presides at civil ceremonies. He is responsible for seeing that conscripted villagers report for military service.

The Council of Elders theoretically makes recommendations concerning the conduct of village affairs, supervises the village finances, buys or expropriates land on which to construct schools or other communal buildings, and fixes the contributions in labor

and money to be made by villagers for road maintenance and communal improvements. Its judicial functions include the arbitration of disputes between villagers about minor money obligations and the imposition of fines for failure to perform allotted services.

Actual working of village administration depends much on the personalities of those involved, for some councils let the muhtar operate freely while others do not. In some cases the office of muhtar is viewed as a useless post and the more respected leaders will not take the position. This has its effects in slowing the pace of reform in the villages.

CIVIL SERVANTS

Turkey has an outstanding civil service composed of people who are generally competent and devoted to duty. The government's policy is to promote officials on the basis of competence rather than length of service. A large body of rules and regulations is justified on the ground that it provides insurance against the corruption which obtained under the Ottomans.

Civil service reforms under the Republic included raising the standards for the personal and educational qualification of applicants. Special courses for aspirants are given in the universities.

The training and qualifications of provincial governors and other district administrators have been given special educational emphasis. Until 1955, graduates of law or political science at Ankara or Istanbul universities who wished to enter the civil service usually accepted some subordinate position in one of the ministries. Since 1955 additional training has been available at the Institute of Public Administration for Turkey and the Middle East, set up by the United Nations. Successful candidates are eligible for appointment as district administrators, and may in time rise to be provincial governors.

Most ministries have developed their own training programs to improve managerial and, in some instances, technical skills. Funds for this purpose are limited.

Since each ministry does its own recruiting, entrance requirements for the same kinds of work differ widely from one ministry to another. In general, openings are publicly announced, and selections are made after examination of the applicants' credentials and the administration of tests required by the particular agency.

Efforts are being made with the assistance of foreign specialists, to improve proficiency. Selected civil servants have taken courses both in Turkey and abroad in personnel management or specialized fields. Salary schedules based on standard job evaluations

have been prepared. Instruction manuals have been published to explain various phases of departmental operations.

Meanwhile there continues to be a shortage of top-level instructors and civil service candidates. Evident factors are the newness of the educational effort (the school of Administration at Middle East Technical University in Ankara is only in its second decade), the still high incidence of illiteracy, the rapid expansion of government, and the competition offered by private industries.

There is no fixed time limit for service in one place, but governors usually serve in one province from 1 to 6 years. Assignments to remote posts in eastern Turkey are regarded as punishment or as hardship. Dismissals can be made only on the basis of incompetence.

Ordinary civil servants in Turkey once enjoyed fairly high social status because of their education and positions of some responsibility. With the increase of education, the spread of private industry and the generally low level of civil service salaries, their social status is declining. They are supposed to remain out of politics, but may be candidates for the Assembly provided that they resign if elected. Upon completing their terms in the Assembly, they may be reinstated without loss of seniority. Despite the relative aloofness of all categories from politics civil servants constitute an influential, though comparatively silent, political force in the country.

CHAPTER 14

POLITICAL DYNAMICS

Turkey in late 1968 was a modern progressive state with a potentially good future, because of hard work, resourceful leadership, and significant assistance from abroad. Problems, chiefly economic, remained, however.

The question of political stability became critical during the period 1960-65. On May 27, 1960, 38 officers of the army, led by the chief of staff, General Cemal Gürsel, took over the government, thereby ending the 10-year responsibility of the Democrat Party (DP-Demokrat Partisi) of the late Adnan Menderes for the stewardship of Turkish political fortunes. Functioning under a Committee of National Unity (NUC), the military presided over the government for 18 months, looking for the earliest opportunity to turn over the administration to civilian authority.

General Gürsel justified the military's action by saying that the country could not be saved without army intervention. On the sidelines the army remained in 1968 a partisan of the Atatürk heritage and was a significant factor in the power structure.

The process of the army's withdrawal from the political arena was more difficult than entering it. A Second Republic, with a new Constitution, was instituted. A State Planning Organization was established (see ch. 20, Industry). Progress was slow, and there was some question whether as the principles of Atatürk were being followed. Within the ranks of the military, who considered themselves the true guardians of the Atatürk legacy, there were indications of discontent, particularly among 14 of the younger officers of the committee. One of them, Colonel Alparslan Türkesh, was expelled from the committee, in November 1960, because of his more radical views regarding the application of Atatürk principles and the speed to be expected for social and economic progress.

This difference of opinion continued in 1968 to be shared by some intellectuals who favored adoption of a fully planned economy to accelerate achievement of social and economic gains, as opposed to those who preferred maintenance of the formula of a mixed society with state organizations and private enterprise working together.