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World - Middle East

Kurds show restraint in Ocalan verdict protests

Demonstrators unfurl banner of Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan at the Turkish embassy in Rome during a protest against his death sentence

 
RELATED VIDEO
CNN's Tom Mintier reports on reaction outside of Turkey to the Ocalan death sentence
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CNN's Matthew Chance reports on the death sentence for Ocalan, whose 15-year fight for Kurdish independence left thousands dead
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 ALSO:
International community rejects Ocalan death penalty

June 29, 1999
Web posted at: 3:15 p.m. EDT (1915 GMT)


In this story:

Long process ahead before execution can take place

Turks pleased with verdict

RELATED STORIES, SITES icon



LONDON (CNN) -- Within minutes of Tuesday's verdict in Turkey -- Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan found guilty of treason and sentenced to hang -- Kurds across Europe took to the streets.

More than 400 protesters gathered outside the U.S. embassy in downtown London for a noisy but peaceful demonstration. In Moscow hundreds of Kurds took to the streets to protest the death sentence handed down on Ocalan. In Berlin police attempted to prevent any large gatherings with barbed wire around the Turkish consulate and roadblocks to divert traffic.

Small crowds assembled in Amsterdam after the verdict was announced, but no trouble occurred. About 200 Kurds, some throwing stones, gathered outside the U.S. Embassy in Nicosia, Cyprus.

Ocalan's arrest in February brought violent protests to nearly a half dozen European capitals. Across Europe Tuesday, the demonstrators gathered quickly once the verdict was announced, but with nowhere near the numbers or intensity of five months earlier.

This time, the Kurdish demonstrators were less violent. The rallies lasted for hours not days, and the protesters moved through the streets, covering territory instead of attempting to seize it.

Long process ahead before execution can take place

But if Ocalan is actually put to death, the protesters vow to take revenge.

"There will be great bloodshed. Everybody knows this," said Kurdish community spokesman Ahmed Mustapha in London. "There will be much more violence, much more accelerated war."

Ocalan's Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) has also threatened to intensify the violence, and Mizgin Sen of the National Liberation Front of Kurdistan predicted it would not wait for the appeals process before it would act.

The death sentence for Ocalan -- required for the charges under which he was convicted -- will be automatically sent to an appeals court. If the appeals court upholds the death sentence, it must be endorsed by both the parliament and the president before it can be carried out.

Ocalan's lawyers have said they will also appeal the verdict to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.

"The death sentence has passed," said Sen. "Whether Ocalan will be executed or not is a different matter. What is lacking in Turkey is the recognition of the problem."

The problem, Kurds say, is their treatment at the hands of the Turkish government. During his trial, Ocalan said that government action, like banning Kurdish language education and broadcasts, were at the root of his armed struggle.

But Turkey regarded Ocalan as a terrorist responsible for the deaths of more than 30,000 people during the course of the 15-year insurgency.

Turks pleased with verdict

While Kurds quietly demonstrated against the verdict, Turks celebrated.

"I would have strangled him myself," one woman said. "Now I can take the good news to my family. I only hope the state will carry out the necessary punishment."

Ocalan offered to guarantee peace in return for his life, but the Turkish court refused. Baki Ilkin, Turkey's ambassador to the United States, told CNN that there was no place for the rebel leader in the government's plans to revitalize southeastern Turkey, where the Kurds live.

London Bureau Chief Tom Mintier and correspondent Matthew Chance contributed to this report.



RELATED STORIES:
Grieving Turks call for Ocalan's death on eve of verdict
June 28, 1999
Ocalan warns court not to ignore his calls for peace
June 23, 1999
Ocalan makes final statement as trial resumes
June 23, 1999
Ocalan's attorneys to argue for his life
June 23, 1999
Turkish prosecutors rest case, demand that Ocalan hang
June 8, 1999

RELATED SITES:
The Ocalan Trial
TIME Daily - Ocalan, Turkey and the Kurds
Kurdistan Workers Party Information
The Republic of Turkey
President of the Turkish Republic
The Center for Kurdish Political Studies
Human Rights Watch
European Court of Human Rights
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