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ISTANBUL, TURKEY – Responding to the decision of
the European Court of Human Rights last week that
Turkey should retry jailed Kurdish guerrilla leader
Abdullah Ocalan, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan
sounded a definitive note.
"Whether this case is reopened or not, the matter is
a closed one for the nation's conscience," he said.
As head of the separatist Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK),
Mr. Ocalan has long been public enemy No. 1,
characterized as a kind of Marxist-Leninist Osama
Bin Laden. A bitter war between Turkey and Ocalan's
PKK killed more than 30,000 people in the 1980s and
1990s.
Hostilities ended in 1999, when Ocalan was captured,
tried, and condemned to death. The sentence was
later commuted to life imprisonment. Ocalan rejects
the charges, saying he is a political leader.
In an 11-6 ruling, the ECHR found that Ocalan's
trial "was not tried by an independent and impartial
tribunal" and had violated European conventions on
human rights. Turkey's government and judiciary must
now weigh the ECHR's call for a retrial.
For most Turks, Ocalan's guilt is an open-and-shut
case. But observers here say that a new trial for
the PKK leader, who still has the support of many
Kurds, could reignite the Kurdish debate.
Meanwhile, many Turks see the ECHR decision as
further proof that Europe is not listening to
Turkey's concerns and is intent on breaking up the
country by giving increasing rights to minorities.
Turkey's handling of a retrial could, these
observers say, shape the drive to join the European
Union (EU) and the still-volatile Kurdish issue.
"Politically [the case] is not a closed chapter,"
says Dogu Ergil, a professor at Ankara University.
"A retrial will reopen the question of the Kurdish
issue, but not in a positive way. The first reaction
will be a nationalist upsurge and rejectionism."
After Ocalan's capture, the PKK retreated to
northern Iraq. But the group, thought to have some
5,000 members, called off a cease-fire last year,
claiming Turkey was not seeking "lasting peace."
Recent months have seen clashes between Turkish
troops and PKK guerillas.
Meanwhile, EU-driven reforms dealing with cultural
and linguistic rights have helped bring a sense of
greater freedom among Kurds, though some Kurdish
leaders say tensions persist.
"We cannot say that everything is OK because of the
EU reforms," says Reyhan Yalcindag, a Kurdish lawyer
who is vice president of Turkey's non-governmental
Human Rights Association. "The Kurdish question is
still unresolved."
Ihsan Dagi, a political scientist at Ankara's Middle
East Technical University, warns that a new Ocalan
trial would fan both Turkish and Kurdish
nationalism. "This could lead to instability and
tension in Turkish politics," he says.
Turkey's government must now also manage the impact
the retrial debate may have on EU-related reforms.
Recent polls suggest that public support for EU
membership has dropped to 63 percent from 75 percent
a year ago.
Public response to the ruling has been relatively
quiet. A demonstration in support of Ocalan in the
largely Kurdish city of Diyarbakir attracted some
1,500 protesters.
The ECHR is not an EU body, but is connected to the
Council of Europe, the continent's top human-rights
watchdog. Still, the court draws its legitimacy from
the European Convention on Human Rights, which
Turkey has signed and to which all EU members must
be party. Defying the court would have serious
implications for Turkey's EU bid.
"As a member of the Council of Europe and because of
[its EU] candidate-country status, it is evident
Turkey will have to comply with the decision of the
European Court of Human Rights," EU enlargement
commissioner Olli Rehn said recently.
Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party, which
has made joining the EU a top priority, finds itself
caught between European demands and pressures at
home.
In an interview with a Turkish newspaper, opposition
leader Deniz Baykal rejected a retrial. Turkey's
powerful military, which has been more vocal about
its displeasure with some of the EU demands, also
stepped into the fray.
"Nobody can expect an institution which gave
thousands of martyrs to stay impartial," Ilker
Basbug, deputy head of the general staff, recently
told reporters.
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