HIGHLIGHTS: A Blow to Ecevit's Push to Stay in Power Despite Ill Health||Resignations Come a Day After Key Governmen Leader Calls for Early Elections||Opposition Now Largest Party in Parliament|| STORY: Turkey's coalition government was on the verge of collapse Monday when three ministers, including deputy premier Husamettin Ozkan, resigned a day after a key government leader called for early elections.(Read photo caption)

Ozkan, formerly one of ailing Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit's closest aides, announced his resignation after meeting Ecevit on Monday. Two other ministers and 14 other lawmakers, all from Ecevit's Democratic Left Party, immediately announced their resignations from the government and the party.

Another minister, Hasan Gemici, said he would consult with party officials Tuesday in his district before deciding whether to resign.

The resignations are a crushing blow to Ecevit's push to stay in power despite growing calls on him to resign. He has been suffering from a series of ailments for the past two months and has been barely able to lead an increasingly splintered coalition government.

On Sunday, Devlet Bahceli - leader of the coalition's nationalist wing - called for early elections, causing financial markets to drop sharply.

With the resignations, Ecevit's party is no longer the largest in parliament and will now be second to the nationalists. The nationalists have strongly opposed Ecevit's efforts to pass EU-demanded legislation that would abolish the death penalty and allow minority Kurds to teach and broadcast in Kurdish.

"This government is finished," said Mehmet Ali Sahin a lawmaker from the pro-Islamic Justice and Development Party, an opposition party.

Bahceli's party began collecting signatures Monday to recall parliament early from its summer holiday to vote on holding a November election. Bahceli said polls were the best way to end political uncertainty stemming from Ecevit's poor health and divisions in the government. It was the first time a coalition leader had publicly called for elections before their due date of spring 2004.

Earlier, lawmakers from Ecevit's party had said they opposed an autumn election and wanted to stay in office until 2004, to complete economic and political reforms.

But the departure of Ozkan and other ministers makes that almost impossible, and will step up the pressure on Ecevit.
The resignations come as Turkish markets have become increasingly fragile. The lira has plunged almost 20 percent in the past few weeks. Markets fear that early elections could set back an economic recovery after last year's crisis in which Turkey's economy shrank 9.4 percent. The IMF has bailed out the Turkish economy with loans that now total some dlrs 31 billion.

PHOTO CAPTION

Deputy Premier Husamettin Ozkan, left, and Turkey's Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit smile during a meeting of their Democratic Left Party in the Parliament in Ankara in this Feb. 28, 2001 file photo. Three Cabinet ministers, including Ozkan, resigned Monday, private NTV television reported, departures that will fuel calls for early elections and the resignation of ailing Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit.(AP Photo/Burhan Ozbilici/ File