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Kurds show restraint in Ocalan verdict protests
June 29, 1999
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.
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. 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 RELATED SITES: The Ocalan Trial
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