Turkish spy chief says he opposes hanging Kurdish rebel leader Ocalan

ANKARA, Turkey (Reuters) -- Turkey's National Intelligence Agency (MIT) chief said in remarks published Tuesday that it would be against Turkish interests to hang Kurdish rebel chief Abdullah Ocalan, sentenced to death last year for treason.

In an unprecedented briefing with selected national newspapers, Senkal Atasagun also said he was in favor of ending a ban on Kurdish language broadcasting and setting up a state-controlled television channel in Kurdish.

The liberal comments are sure to spark fierce debate over an issue that has stoked tension in a three-party government that includes the hard-line Nationalist Action Party (MHP).

The initial response from Defense Minister Sabahattin Cakmakoglu, a member of the MHP, was frosty. "These views may be personal opinions of the MIT Undersecretary, but I do not think they are binding for the state," he told reporters.

The army, which has overturned governments in three coups since 1960, has always adamantly opposed concessions to Turkey's 12 million Kurds, fearing a breakup of the country.

Famed for its covert capture of Ocalan in Kenya last year, the MIT is a powerful force in the country. It is also traditionally secretive and conservative but has gone to some lengths in recent months to project a more open image.

Ending the Kurdish language broadcasting ban is among key conditions for Turkey to start European Union membership talks.

Atasagun was quoted by the mainstream Hurriyet daily as saying Turkey should not allow Medya TV, a satellite channel echoing the views of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), to provide the only Kurdish language television in Turkey.

"Medya TV broadcasting in line with the PKK can easily be watched in the southeast," he said. "They are telling many lies. Everybody is watching these broadcasts over the satellites.

"We have informed the government about our opinion. Similarly we oppose the hanging of Ocalan and we informed the government of that. We opposed that because of Turkey's interests," Atasagun was quoted as saying.

Milliyet newspaper, which also carried the interview, quoted Atasagun as saying the army shared his opinion over Kurdish broadcasting, but the MIT later issued a statement saying that Atasagun's comments reflected only his own views.

"We said we informed the other state institutions about our views," Atasagun said in a statement faxed to Reuters.

"But it is not possible for us to make comments over what kind of views either the chief of general staff's office or the foreign ministry has on this issue," he said.

Any moves toward leniency for Ocalan or easing the Kurdish language ban could also meet strong opposition from the MHP, the senior partner in Bulent Ecevit's left-right coalition.

Ecevit's relations with MHP leader Devlet Bahceli were strained earlier this month when the prime minister said Turkey must "sooner or later" consider allowing Kurdish broadcasting. Bahceli said such a move could fuel ethnic clashes and division.

Ecevit said he had given permission to Atasagun to meet the press. "A solution for the question of the Kurdish language that will not harm our national unity must be found," he said.

Liberal academic Dogu Ergil said the intelligence chief would not have made such explicit comments without the approval of the army, so the interview was significant as the first public statement of what power brokers in Turkey have now accepted as the only way to solve the Kurdish problem.

"The MHP will go along with the army at the leadership level," Ergil said. "But MHP based its political position vis a vis the rank and file on opposing anything Kurdish, not only the PKK. So they will have problems convincing their supporters."

The European Court of Human Rights is currently hearing an appeal against Ocalan's death penalty.

Turkey has effectively had a moratorium on the death penalty since 1984. While extreme nationalists are keen to see Ocalan hang, the government is aware that executing him would end any hopes Turkey has of joining the EU in the near future.

Turkey holds Ocalan responsible for a 16-year campaign of violence in which some 30,000 people died.

After his arrest Ocalan has urged the PKK to give up the armed struggle, and violence has fallen off dramatically.

Copyright 2000 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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