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ANKARA, May 12 (AFP) - 18h18 - Turkey's main
pro-Kurdish party on Thursday welcomed a ruling by
the European Court of Human Rights calling for a
retrial of Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan,
saying this might encourage Kurdish insurgents to
announce a new ceasefire with Ankara.
"We believe Mr. Ocalan's retrial under universal
legal norms will offer a new opportunity to discuss
and resolve the Kurdish problem," said Tuncer
Bakirhan, chairman of the Democratic People's Party
(DEHAP).
"We believe that a retrial will mark the beginning
of a new process towards lasting peace," he told a
news conference.
The European Court of Human Rights said Thursday
that Ocalan's 1999 trial, in which he was sentenced
to death for treason, was unfair and called on
Turkey to retry him.
Ocalan's Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) waged a
bloody campaign for self-rule in mainly Kurdish
southeast Turkey between 1984 and 1999, with the
conflict claiming some 37,000 lives.
The PKK announced a unilateral ceasefire in
September 1999, following appeals for peace by
Ocalan from his jail on the island of Imrali.
But the rebels called the truce off on June 1, 2004,
on grounds that the reforms Ankara undertook to
expand Kurdish freedoms as part of its bid to join
the European Union were insufficient, raising
tensions in the southeast.
"We regret the disruption of the conflict-free
period," Bakirhan said, adding that recent
statements by the PKK and Ocalan contained hints
that a new ceasefire might be announced if Ocalan's
was retried.
The main objective of a possible retrial for Ocalan
would be to rectify procedural flaws that the
European Court of Human Rights found in the original
trial. A retrial is not expected to result in a more
lenient sentence.
Bakirhan urged Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan
and all political forces in the country not to use
the court's ruling in favor of Ocalan to fan
nationalist sentiment and inflame tensions between
Turks and Kurds.
"Our contemporary history is full of examples
showing that a climate of confrontation and tension
does not help anyone," he said.
AFP
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