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Former Kurdish PKK leader Ocalan to sue
Greece for helping his capture
22.1.2008
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January
22, 2008
Greek report: Ocalan to sue Greece for
helping his capture
Abdullah Ocalan, the leader of the Turkey's outlawed
Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), is preparing to sue
Greece for its alleged assistance in his capture, a
Greek news report said on Monday.
Ocalan will accuse Greece either of not doing enough
to prevent his capture or of working behind the
scene to help in his delivery to the Turkish secret
service,www.ekurd.net
Greek daily Ethnos said.
Citing "reliable sources," the daily said Öcalan has
contacted a renowned Greek lawyer, Iannis Rahiotis,
through his Turkish lawyers. |
Former Kurdish PKK rebel leader, in prison on Imrali
Island |
Turkish authorities are expected to give him the
permission to visit Öcalan on Imrali Island off
Istanbul, where Öcalan is serving a life sentence.
Rahiotis will then file a court case against Greece
in Greek or European courts, the daily said.
In 1999 Öcalan was captured in a covert operation in
Kenya, where he had been hiding in the Greek
Embassy. The circumstances of his arrest were not
known, but the incident caused an uproar among
ordinary Greeks and PKK supporters against the Greek
government.
Three Cabinet ministers were forced to resign amid
accusations of mishandling the case. Ethnos said the
reported permission by the Turkish government for a
court case against Greece could harm Turkish-Greek
ties just prior to a visit by Greek Prime Minister
Costas Karamanlis to Turkey, scheduled to begin on
Wednesday.
More than 37,000 Turkish soldiers and Kurdish PKK
guerrillas have been killed since1984 when the PKK
took up arms for self-rule in the country's mainly
Kurdish southeast of Turkey.
A
large Turkey's Kurdish community openly sympathise with the Kurdish PKK for a
Kurdish homeland in the country's
southeast of Turkey.
The PKK demanded Turkey's recognition of the Kurds'
identity in its constitution and of their language
as a native language along with Turkish in the
country's Kurdish areas,www.ekurd.net
the party also demanded
an end to ethnic discrimination in Turkish laws and
constitution against Kurds, granting them full
political freedoms.
The PKK, listed as a "terrorist" group by Ankara, US
and EU.
Todayszman com
**
Kurds are not recognized as an official minority in
Turkey and are denied rights granted to other
minority groups. Under EU pressure, Turkey recently
granted Kurds limited rights for broadcasts and
education in the Kurdish language, but critics say
the measures do not go far enough.
The use of the term "Kurdistan" is vigorously
rejected due to its alleged political implications
by the Republic of Turkey, which does not recognize
the existence of a "Turkish Kurdistan" Southeast
Turkey.
Others estimate over 40 million Kurds live in
Big Kurdistan (Iraq, Turkey, Syria, Iran, Armenia),
which covers an area as big as France, about half of
all Kurds which estimate to 20 million live in
Turkey.
Turkey is home to over 25 million ethnic Kurds, a
large Turkey's Kurdish community openly sympathise with the Kurdish PKK for a
Kurdish homeland in the country's mainly Kurdish
southeast of Turkey.
Before August 2002, the Turkish government placed
severe restrictions on the use of Kurdish language,
prohibiting the language in education and broadcast
media.
The Kurdish alphabet is still not recognized
in Turkey, and use of the Kurdish letters X, W, Q
which do not exist in the Turkish
alphabet has led to judicial persecution in 2000 and
2003
The Kurdish flag flown officially in Iraqi Kurdistan
but unofficially flown by Kurds in Armenia. The flag
is banned in Iran, Syria, and Turkey where flying it
is a criminal offence"
Southeastern Turkey:
North Kurdistan (
Kurdistan-Turkey)
wikipedia
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