THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF 17 JUNE 1975

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: President's Daily Brief 1969-1977
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 0006014826
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 12
• Document Creation Date: August 14, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 24, 2016
• Publication Date: June 17, 1975

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The President's Daily Brief
June 17, 1975
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declassification schedule of E.O. 11652
exemption category, 5B1 I )A2),(3)
declassified onhl on approval of
the Director of Central Intelligen.
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FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY
LATE ITEM
TURKEY
The Turkish government has decided to wait 30
days before taking any action against US bases in
the country, according to the US charge d' affaires
in Ankara. After 30 days, Ankara again will review
bilateral relations and US base rights.
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June 17, 1975
Table of Contents
Italy: The Communists led the left in election
gains, the Christian Democrats matched an all-
time low, and the right suffered the most
losses. (Page 1)
Portugal: The dispute over reopening the Socialist
Party's newspaper is not yet over, and the
Socialists could still decide to leave the gov-
ernment. (Page 3)
Syria-Israel:
(Page 5)
Turkey: An announcement is due today on how the
security council decided to react to the US
arms embargo. (Page 6)
Notes: North Vietnam; Algeria-Egypt; Zaire (Page 7)
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ITALY
With all of the votes counted, the
Italian regional elections have revealed
a decisive shift to the left, marked by
unprecedented gains for the Communist
Party. The Christian Democrats remain
number one, but just barely. Only par-
tial returns are available from provin-
cial and municipal contests, but they
point in the same direction.
The parties of the left--the Communists, So-
cialists, and a small party to the left of the
Communists--obtained over 47 percent of the vote.
The lion's share went to the Communists, who
achieved an all-time high of 33.4 percent, more
than 5 percent over their 1972 performance and
nearly 6 percent above their vote in 1970. Yes-
terday's advances by the Communists exceed any they
have registered since World War II. Even in their
most optimistic projections, the Communists had
not expected to win more than 30 percent. In addi-
tion to their regional gains, early municipal re-
turns suggest that the Communists have become the
plurality party in some major cities, including
Rome, Milan, and Turin.
The Christian Democrat's total of 35.3 percent
almost matched its postwar low in the 1946 constitu-
ent assembly election. Although the Christian Dem-
ocratic losses are a major blow, they are not in the
range expected by pessimists in the party who feared
a loss of around 5 percent. The fact that the Com-
munists appear to be drawing almost as many votes
as the Christian Democrats, however, will overshadow
that.
The Socialist Party, with 12 percent, picked
up about 2 percent over its 1972 and 1970 totals.
The impact of the Socialists' increase will be
magnified by the fact that they are the only party
in the center-left governing majority that advanced.
(continued)
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The losers were the parties of the right, with
the Conservative Liberals continuing their steady
decline and the Neo-Fascists dropping back closer
to their postwar average of about 5 percent.
The left will interpret the vote as a call for
change; that was the common thread in the Socialist
and Communist campaigns. At the minimum, the out-
come is likely to:
--Build more pressure behind Communist chief
Berlinguer's proposal for a "historic com-
promise" designed to bring his party into the
government.
--Give the Socialists a strong hand to play in
their push for treatment as political equals by
the Christian Democrats in the center-left
coalition. The Socialists will now appear more
than ever to be the only barrier to entry into
the government by the Communists.
Both the Communists and Socialists have until
now opposed an early parliamentary election. Pres-
sures will probably increase in both parties to
try to bring about such an election, however, in
the hope of transplanting the regional gains to the
national level.
The immediate problem for party leaders is
whether to leave the two-party Moro government in
place until next fall, when the Christian Democrats
and Socialists have scheduled party congresses.
Just prior to the balloting there seemed to be a
consensus in favor of avoiding a government crisis
now. Party leaders, particularly. the Socialists,
now will be rethinking the matter. When the gov-
ernment crisis does come, it could be among the
most difficult and protracted of the postwar
period.
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PORTUGAL
The dispute has been renewed over
the Socialist Party's newspape24,3 Repub-
lica, which was closed by the government
after Communist printers took it over
nearly four weeks ago. Republica was
to have been, turned back to the Social-
ists yesterday.
Last-minute conditions levied by the Social-
ists to head off more trouble from the printers,
according to press reports, prompted the internal
security officer in charge of the building to hand
the keys over to representatives of a Communist-
dominated workers' committee. He also gave keys
to Republica's editor, who has refused to reenter
the building as long as Socialist control of the
paper remains in doubt.
If the government permits the workers to as-
sume control of Republica, the Socialists may feel
compelled to pull out of the government, as they
had threatened if the Armed Forces Movement did
not give the paper back to them.
Security forces armed with tear gas formed a
cordon around the Republica building last night,
but a crowd, mostly Socialists, gave them no trou-
ble. The security men barred both management and
labor from the building overnight. It is to be
opened at 8:00 AM today.
Rumors have also been rife in Lisbon, mean-
while, about a marathon session of the Revolution-
ary Council said to have been held last weekend.
Military leaders were said to be attempting to re-
solve disputes over whether to abolish political
parties and over what form of socialism Portugal
is to have,
(continued)
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SYRIA?ISRAEL
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TURKEY
The Turkish national security council
issued an uninformative communique fol-
lowing yesterday's extraordinary meeting
on how to react to the US arms embargo.
Prime Minister Demirel has promised
that Foreign Minister CagZayangiZ will
make an announcement this morning.
Demirel has said Turkey must take counter-
measures against the US because of new indications
that the arms embargo will not be lifted and be-
cause he is under domestic pressure in Turkey. In
fact, we have no evidence of an increase in pressure
on Demirel, either from the general public or from
the military. Even his political opposition, led
by former prime minister Ecevit, has refrained from
inflammatory statements.
Demirel, rather, appears to have seized the
issue as a chance to strengthen his own political
position. He may well have reasoned that he could
only gain from bringing matters to a head. If the
embargo were lifted, he would be credited with
forcing the US to back down; if the embargo were
maintained, he would only have anticipated the
development and begun the steps he would have been
forced to take anyway.
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NOTES
Hanoi has begun moving some of its main-force
combat units back to North Vietnam.,
Intercepts reveal that the headquarters of
the 1st Corps--Hanoi's mobile strike force--is
back in central North Vietnam. Other messages in-
dicate that two of the corps' divisions also have
begun moving northward. Hanoi still has 19 infan-
try divisions in the South, four of them from the
strategic reserve. Since the fall of Saigon, these
units have been engaged in mopping up remaining
pockets of resistance and providing transportation,
communications, and some administrative expertise
in the countryside. The bulk of these forces pre-
sumably will remain until a new political and ad-
ministrative system has had time to take hold.
US-Zairian relations may be headed for a dif-
ficult period.
A number of middle and high-ranking military
officers have been arrested for allegedly planning
a coup to depose President Mobutu, and rumors have
been circulating in Kinshasa for about a week that
the US was involved. Mobutu himself may have in-
spired the rumors. He has tried for some time to
erase the pro-US reputation he has in much of Af-
rica and has increasingly resorted to anti-US out-
bursts.
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