The military stepped in again, to general relief, but at the price of strict control and some human rights abuses. The head of the military government, General Kenan Evren, resigned his military commission and became Turkey's new president. In early 1998, Turkey's Constitutional Court banned the Islamic-oriented Welfare Party, and along with it, previous PM Necmettin Erbakan. The Welfare Party was found to be working to undermine Turkey's secular democratic basis, but, ironically, the ban opens up the question of just how democratic Turkey is. Turkey's EU aspirations are further jeopardised by an unhappy human rights record, corruption, a shaky economy and the ongoing stoush with the Kurds.
Kurdish separatism is one of Turkey's hottest issues.
PLO-supported Kurdish guerillas based in Syria, Iraq and Iran made hundreds of raids during the 1980s into southeastern Turkey killing thousands of civilians and troops. With Ocalan's group, the PKK, attempting to cripple the Turkish economy, tourists have been declared fair game. Although travel in Turkey remains essentially safe, the country does seem to be lurching into a new and more dangerous phase. Lonely Planet Publications Pty. Ltd. All rights reserved.