Turks sit on transition timetable

Turkey's military rulers will disclose their timetable on the return to a civilian and democratic regime next year, special correspondent Sam Cohen reports. Gen. Kenan Evren, head of the military junta that seized power in September, said, "We have programmed the return to democcracy, just as we planned the military takeover of September. We have the timetable in our mind, but we shall not disclose it now. We shall tell it during 1981."

he said the chief reason for delaying the timetable proclamation was a determination to crack down on "the sources of anarchy and terror. . . . We want to prevent those circles from making their own plans. If we reveal the timetable, they may make their plans accordingly," he said. He also emphasized that the generals have no intention of staying in power.

Genneral Evren's statement follows reports of mounting concern on Turkey's political future among West European institutions. Foreign Minister llter Turkmen is just back from a trip to Europe, where he has tried to assure some of these organizations that the Turkish generals will reinstate democracy when they accomplish their mission, which is mainly to restore law and order and to make the necessary changes in the Constitution and other laws affecting political life.

Despite these assurances, some Western politicians and political organizations have been pressing for a definite timetable. There have also been some insinuations that unless Turkey returns to democracy, it may be expelled from the Council of Europe.