TURKEY'S loose knit coalition, and with it the political fortunes of the former prime minister, Ms Tansu Ciller, may begin to unravel today when parliament debates a corruption investigation into her years in power.
The debate, and a similar debate early next month, will centre on wide ranging charges of irregularities surrounding government contracts and privatisation of state assets during Ms Ciller's tenure of office, from June 1993 until March last. But the real political drama has come in the run up to today's session, with Ms Ciller's conservative coalition partners poised to abandon her.
In fact, her rival turned partner Mr Mesut Yilmaz, now prime minister and leader of the Motherland Party (ANAP), has so fir refused to stand by Ms Ciller, who is due to return to the premiership in January under a power sharing agreement. As a result, dozens of ANAP deputies, along with members of the Democratic Left Party, say they will back opposition Islamist Welfare (Party (RP) demands for an inquiry that could send the case to the Supreme Court. The final tally, however, remains in doubt.
Resolutions prepared by RP claim that Ms Ciller and her husband headed a "Waterfront Gang" - named for after her villa on the Bosphorus - that used the government for personal gain. This allegedly included auctions by the state electricity company, TEDAS, and the privatisation of the motor manufacturer Tofas.
Ms Ciller, Turkey's first woman prime minister, has vigorously denied the charges, saying they are calculated to bring about her political downfall.
. Greece yesterday accused Turkey of harbouring "slave traders and rejected Ankara's protest over an incident in which a Greek patrol boat fired warning shots at a Turkish vessel this week.
Greece says the Turkish boat had just dropped off illegal immigrants on a Greek island and the warning shots were fired in the air. Ankara says the incident occurred in Turkish waters.
"Turkey adopts and publicises the version [of events given] by the slave traders, appearing as their protector and defender," the government spokesman, Mr Nikos Athanassakis, said.
Turkey handed a strong protest to the Greek ambassador in Ankara on Monday, saying a Greek patrol boat shot at a Turkish fishing boat in Turkish waters, injuring a fisherman.