Kurds call for day of protest

Ocalan has appealed against his death sentence

TUNCELI, Turkey -- Kurdish leaders are calling for a worldwide day of action to mark the second anniversary of the arrest of Abdullah Ocalan.

Turkey captured Ocalan on February 15, 1999, and after a trial sentenced him to death for treason for leading the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in its armed struggle for Kurdish self-rule.

PKK leaders called on Kurds everywhere to mark the day, saying: "Actions such as demonstrations, marches, blackouts, shop closures, school boycotts, work walkouts, hunger strikes and continual mass protest must be started on February 15."

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The action was to be an expression of the PKK's frustration at what it called a Turkish policy of "denial and destruction" in the face of Kurdish peace initiatives.

"Our people everywhere must start a political action," the PKK leadership council said in a statement in the Internet edition of the Ozgur Politika newspaper, close to the rebels.

Many European countries such as Germany and the UK are home to sizeable Kurdish populations and have seen Kurdish protests in the past.

Turkish special forces spirited Ocalan out of Kenya in February, 1999, sparking protests by Kurds across Europe. Some demonstrators set themselves alight.

The call was also broadcast on the Kurdish-language Medya TV satellite channel, on which Ocalan's brother Osman, a senior PKK leader, warned that the guerrillas were running out of patience with official Turkish refusal to respond to their ceasefire.

The PKK says it has obeyed orders Ocalan issued from his Turkish prison cell to abandon their armed campaign and use political means to press for Kurdish cultural rights in Turkey.

Turkey says the ceasefire is a ruse to spare Ocalan from the gallows. Turkish armed forces have pressed on with attacks on PKK positions in Turkey and the Kurdish-held enclave in northern Iraq.

"Do not forget that our capacity to fight is high," Osman Ocalan said on Medya TV.

"War will not be started by us. War is not our preference. I want to stress that it would be a road we were forced to take."

More than 30,000 people, mostly Kurds, have died in 16 years of fighting between the rebels and security forces.

EU-membership candidate Turkey has delayed executing Ocalan to allow a European court to rule on his appeal against his sentence.

Reuters contributed to this report.

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November 28, 2000
Rebel leader fights Turkish execution order
November 22, 2000
Who is Abdullah Ocalan?
November 20, 2000
Turkey delays execution of Kurdish rebel leader Ocalan
January 12, 2000
Appeal of Ocalan's death sentence rejected in Turkey
December 30, 1999
Turkish court sentences Kurdish leader Ocalan to death
June 29, 1999

Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs
European Court of Human Rights

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