(25 Nov 1999) Turkish/Nat
A Turkish appeals court has upheld Kurdish guerrilla leader Abdullah Ocalan's conviction for treason and separatism, on Thursday.
The charges carry a mandatory death sentence, but this now has to be endorsed by Parliament and the Turkish President before it could be carried out.
But the government is treading a delicate path.
If the death penalty were enforced it could jeopardize Turkey's chances of joining the European Union.
A judge in the Turkish capital Ankara quashed an appeal on behalf on the Kurdish Rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan on Thursday.
In its brief ruling, the court stated that the previous trial in which Ocalan was sentenced to death had been held "in accordance with legal procedures."
Ocalan's lawyers had asked for a retrial.
They said that Ocalan was prevented from meeting with his lawyers and that his arrest and the conditions in which he was kept afterwards were illegal.
Ocalan himself has argued that he is trying to turn his Kurdish guerrilla group into a political party and that hanging him would only lead to further bloodshed.
Outside the court a group of protesters representing the families whose relatives have died as a result of the guerilla war waged by Ocalan's P-K-K against Turkey.
They defaced images of Ocalan and called on M-Ps to ratify the death sentence.
But the decision puts the Turkish government in a difficult position.
If the sentence is endorsed Turkey's application to join the European Union may well be set back.
Lawyers for the families of the victims disagree.
SOUNDBITE: (Turkish)
"Today's decision by the court ought not to affect our relations with Europe just as earlier decisions by the court did not affect them. In 1974 we landed on Cyprus and no one in Europe approved then but what happened? Nothing. Turkey is a strong big and sovereign nation."
SUPER CAPTION: Mehdi Keskin, Lawyer for PKK victims' families]
And those who lost relatives are in no mood for compromise.
SOUNDBITE: (Turkish)
"Thank God that the blood of our sons has finally been avenged."
SUPER CAPTION: Vox Pop]
SOUNDBITE: (Turkish)
"Now it's up to the MPs, they should vote for the death penalty. The European Union needs to worry about its own human rights problems not ours."
SUPER CAPTION: Vox Pop]
Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit is believed to be loathe to bring the case before parliament and taking it before the
European court could give the Turkish government the safety valve that it needs.
No member of the European Union imposes the death penalty and the Ocalan case is considered a key test for Turkey.
But emotions in Turkey run extremely high and many Turks want Ocalan to pay for leading a guerrilla war that has led to 37-thousand deaths.
Right-wing members of the government who are crucial to the stability of the ruling coalition are saying that
Ocalan must hang.
Kurdish radicals are offering peace, but speak of the possibility of war if their leader is executed.
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