Turkey's leaders agreed Tuesday to reconvene a top security meeting, one day after it was disrupted by an unprecedented row between the country's president and prime minister which sent the country's fragile stock market reeling, reported AFP.
The new gathering of the country's top security chiefs was rescheduled for Monday next week, said the agency, citing the Anatolia news agency.
Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit had stormed out of the National Security Council meeting held on Monday following criticism by President Necdet Sezer that his government's fight against corruption was not satisfactory.
The argument, which saw Sezer and ministers exchanging harsh remarks over the government's anti-corruption drive and a copy of the constitution flying in the air, sparked fears of instability and sent Turkey's financial markets sharply down.
Several hours after the row, the Istanbul stock exchange slumped 14.6 percent. It recovered slightly on Tuesday, rising by 0.9 percent to close at 8,768 points.
The decision to reconvene the national security meeting came after Parliament Speaker Omer Izgi shuttled between Ecevit and Sezer in an apparent mission to soothe ruffled feathers.
"There should not be anything so frigid between statesmen responsible for the country's administration. If there is ice in state affairs, then there will be a crisis," Izgi told reporters after a meeting with Ecevit.
The move towards reconciliation came amid heavy criticism in the media that the two leaders were dragging Turkey towards economic malaise and insistent calls from non-governmental groups for a compromise, said the BBC.online.
The surprise row came at a time when the markets were recovering from a severe liquidity crunch last November, which was barely contained with some 10 billion dollars of rescue aid from the International Monetary Fund, the news service added.
In a message for foreign investors on Tuesday, Ecevit stressed that Ankara would not deviate from its ambitious economic targets.
"The government is determined to implement the program as it has done until now. Domestic and foreign circles should have no doubt about this," he said in a written statement, quoted by the BBC – Albawaba.com
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