(25 Nov 1999) English/Nat
Turkish authorities have upheld Kurdish guerrilla leader Abdullah Ocalan's death sentence, sparking a protest from the Kurdish community in the U-K against the ruling.
There is strong public support in Turkey for hanging the guerrilla leader whose fight for autonomy has led to 37-thousand deaths.
But hundreds of the sizeable Kurdish community based in the U-K took their protest to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to plead with the British Foreign Secretary to intervene on Ocalan's behalf.
But the authorities in Turkey pointed out that the legal and political appeals have not been exhausted and the rebel's execution is still not certain.
Ocalan's lawyers already have said that they will appeal to the European Court of Human Rights, where a decision could take up to two years.
The parliament and President Suleyman Demirel must endorse any execution before it takes place.
SOUNDBITE: (Kurdish)
"We are here to protest Ocalan's death sentence and we sent a letter to (British Foreign Secretary) Mr (Robin) Cook with a petition signed by 3-thousand people. We are here to stop Mr Ocalan's execution and we are here to show our support. As with many other minorities living in other countries, we want minority rights for Kurds as well. There 40 million Kurds who neither have the right to use their language, or other human rights and freedoms. We are here to protest against this capital punishment and we want Europe to put pressure on Turkey to stop this execution."
SUPER CAPTION: Vox pop, Ocalan supporter
SOUNDBITE: (English)
"We are here today (Thursday) to give Mr Robin Cook to give a letter concerning Kurdish struggle and we are protesting here today about the announcement of the Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan's death sentence. We are urging Mr Robin Cook to do something and generally for Europe to do something to lift the death sentence. Kurds have always been peaceful up to now and we are trying to sort out the ongoing Kurdish problem peacefully. It's up to Turkey to choose the right way."
SUPER CAPTION: Vox pop, Ocalan supporter
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