Cynics brushed aside that move as a ploy by the Nationalist leader, Devlet Bahceli, to blackmail the coalition into letting him replace Mr Ecevit.

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But there could still be one big obstacle in the way of such a neat resolution: Devlet Bahceli, the Nationalist leader and also a deputy prime minister.

ECONOMIST: A government on the brink | The

This sense of rejection strengthened the wave of nationalism that swept the extreme-right National Action Party, led by Devlet Bahceli, into a new coalition government after the general election in April.

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EU, it is nothing when set against the words of Devlet Bahceli of the far-right National Action Party, which came second in the general election and might join Mr Ecevit's in a coalition.

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