May 31, 1999
Web posted at: 1:44 p.m. EDT (1744 GMT)

In this story: 'I am ready to serve the Turkish state' Trial's opening draws protests Concerns over human rights RELATED STORIES, SITES

MUDANYA, Turkey (CNN) -- Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan pleaded for a chance to make peace with the Turkish government Monday, promising to end a 15-year fight for Kurdish autonomy if his life were spared.

The trial was adjourned until Tuesday after prosecutors finished reading the 139-page indictment against him.

Ocalan, the captive leader of the militant Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, is standing trial for treason and faces a likely death sentence if convicted. The PKK's battle for a Kurdish state in southeast Turkey has killed as many as 37,000 rebels, soldiers and civilians.

"If permission is granted, I say I can bring down all the men from the mountains within three months," Ocalan told the court at the end of his first day of trial. But he warned that "hundreds of thousands of people will die" in reprisals, if he is executed.

The trial opened in a converted cinema on the prison island of Imrali, where Ocalan is the only inmate. He sat inside a bulletproof glass box during the proceedings.

Ocalan began the day by apologizing to the families of those killed in the guerrilla war. Several family members fainted when they heard the apology.

But he urged the court to spare his life, saying he can help bring and end to the conflict between Turkey and its Kurdish minority.

"For peace and brotherhood, I am ready to serve the Turkish state, and I believe that for this end I must remain alive," Ocalan said.

Ocalan formed the PKK in 1978 to fight for an independent Kurdish homeland. He later moderated that call and began demanding autonomy in the late 1980s for the predominantly Kurdish southeast.

Turkey regards any expression of Kurdish nationalism as a direct threat to the existence of the state. Broadcasts in the Kurdish language are illegal in Turkey, and Kurdish activists are closely monitored.

The Turkish public last saw him after his spectacular capture by Turkish commandos in Nairobi, Kenya, in February. At the time, he was paraded, handcuffed, before the red Turkish flag. He looked thinner on Monday, but alert and well.

Ocalan's trial drew several hundred protesters -- many of them relatives of victims of PKK attacks -- to demonstrate in support of Ocalan's execution. The protesters arrived in a convoy of about 200 cars outside Mudanya, the nearest port to Imrali, and blocked the road into the town.

Ocalan had been hidden by Greek diplomats in Kenya after trying for months to find a country willing to grant him asylum.

Families of slain Turkish soldiers, teachers and security officials watch Ocalan defend himself

"Ocalan must be executed for the sake of domestic peace," said 69-year-old Hamdi Er. "There is a fire in the hearts of the Turkish people and only (Ocalan's) execution will quell the flames."

Authorities imposed extreme security measures around the trial to frustrate possible attacks. Warships patrolled the coast near Imrali, and police helicopters flew over the beach in Mudanya.

Police set up roadblocks outside Mudanya to check the identity cards of anyone trying to enter the town.

Ocalan's seizure outraged expatriate Kurds and their supporters, who staged violent protests across Europe. Ocalan's guerrillas staged several attacks in Turkey following his capture, leaving more than a dozen people dead.

Observers have worried that Ocalan might not get a fair trial in Turkey. International human rights groups have sharply criticized the three-member tribunal that will determine Ocalan's fate, because it includes a military judge.

U.S.-based Human Rights Watch said Monday that a death sentence for Ocalan would be a serious step backward for human rights in Turkey.

"A resumption of executions would be the single most serious retrograde step that one could imagine to human rights," Jonathan Sugden, the group's representative in Turkey, said.

The European Court of Human Rights has overturned prior convictions from similar security courts, arguing that the presence of a military judge violates judicial independence.

Turkey's parliament has been keenly aware of the global scrutiny of Ocalan's trial, and may replace the judge with a civilian.

If sentenced to death, Ocalan can appeal to parliament -- but that body's conservative majority is likely to uphold the punishment.

Berlin Bureau Chief Chris Burns and Reuters contributed to this report.

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