Kurdish rebel leader sentenced to death

The Associated Press

IMRALI ISLAND, Turkey -- Relatives of slain soldiers cheered and waved blood-red national flags -- and in some cases nooses -- when the leader of Turkey's rebel Kurds, Abdullah Ocalan, was convicted of treason Tuesday and sentenced to death by hanging.

Supporters of the Kurdish movement went into mourning, and one Kurdish girl in Istanbul reportedly set herself afire in protest. In reaching its verdict, read aloud by Judge Turgut Okyay, the three-man trial court brushed aside pleas for mercy by saying that Ocalan's 15-year guerrilla struggle had left thousands of men, women and children dead. European states quickly urged Turkey not to send Ocalan to the gallows, warning that could jeopardize Turkey's goal of entering the European Union. EU countries have banned the death penalty and many have expressed concerns over Turkey's human rights record -- including its treatment of Kurds. The United States temporarily closed two of its consulates in Turkey -- one in Istanbul, another in Adana, close to the Kurdish heartland in the southeast -- for fear of possible attacks by angry Kurds, State Department spokesman James Rubin said. Washington has echoed Ankara in labeling Ocalan a "terrorist," and some accuse it of helping in the rebel leader's capture in February. The U.S. reaction to the death sentence was milder than the EU's. "This is a question for the Turkish judicial system, parliament and president to decide," Rubin said. Death sentences in Turkey are automatically appealed, a process that could take months. If the appeals court approves of the sentence, it also must be endorsed by parliament and President Suleyman Demirel. There has been some speculation that Turkey might drag its feet in deciding on the execution until after the country hosts an Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe summit in November. European leaders reportedly have hinted that they might boycott the meeting if Turkey hangs Ocalan. The trial has been extremely emotional for many Turks, who regard Ocalan as a terrorist. The death sentence had been expected and there is strong public pressure to carry it out. However, no one has been executed in Turkey for 15 years -- not since a Kurdish rebel, Hidir Aslan, was hanged in October 1984. In his bullet- and bombproof glass enclosure, Ocalan, 50, (pronounced OH'-juh-lahn) looked somber Tuesday as he was found guilty of treason and separatism. Turks blame Ocalan for all the 37,000 deaths in the guerrilla war led by his Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, which is battling for autonomy in Kurdish-dominated southeastern Turkey. The overwhelming majority of the casualties were Kurdish guerrillas and civilians. "By inciting and leading the armed terrorist organization which he founded, (Ocalan) carried out acts to separate parts of the territory which is under the sovereignty of the state," Okyay said. The judge rejected a request from Ocalan's lawyers to commute the sentence to life imprisonment, saying the rebel leader's actions "indiscriminately killed thousands of innocent people." While relatives of Turkish war dead and their lawyers sang and unfurled Turkey's crescent and star flag, Ocalan waved to his 12 lawyers and left the room. At Mudanya, the closest port to the prison island of Imrali where Ocalan's trial took place, more families and injured soldiers draped themselves in Turkish flags and waved rope nooses in the air.

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