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TURKEY: ABDULLAH OCALAN TRIAL UPDATE

(31 May 1999) Natural Sound Turkish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan pleaded for his life and declared himself ready to cooperate with the Turkish state for peace and brotherhood at the opening of his trial on Monday. The trial opened in a converted movie theater on the heavily guarded prison island Imrali, where Ocalan is the only inmate. For 15 years, Ocalan's guerrillas battled soldiers in the barren mountains of southeastern Turkey, fighting for the Kurdish people and their right to self-determination. But the battle now facing the iron-fisted leader of the Kurdish guerrilla army is in the courtroom, where Ocalan sat behind bulletproof and bombproof glass to defend himself against treason charges. Most observers expect him to receive a death sentence. Security was tight on the island of Imrali as journalists and other observers arrived to attend the hearing of Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan. Facing criticism from abroad that Ocalan may not get a fair trial because the panel includes a military judge, Turkey's new coalition government has said it is willing to dismiss the officer from the panel. Officials have also said the judge might withdraw from the case. The judge's replacement, a civilian, is already on the prison island. Ocalan, the leader of the Kurdistan Workers Party, or P-K-K, was abducted by Turkish commandos on 15 February in Kenya, after he tried for months to find a country willing to grant him asylum. His capture sparked violent protests by Kurds in Turkey, Europe and elsewhere. Guerrillas staged several attacks in Turkey following his capture, leaving more than a dozen people dead. Warships are patrolling the coast near Imrali, and police helicopters fly over the beach in Mudanya, the nearest port to the island. Lawyers and journalists approved to attend the trial were fingerprinted Sunday and their retinas were scanned for identification. They have been instructed to wear no jewelry to the trial, including wedding rings. Journalists were to be given notebooks and pens once they are on the island. Ocalan formed the P-K-K in 1978 to fight for an independent Kurdish homeland, but later moderated that call and began demanding autonomy in the late 1980s for the predominantly Kurdish southeast. In those battles, 37-thousand people, mostly Kurds, died. That demand and his later calls for a negotiated solution to the fighting were rejected by Turkey. Turkey regards any expression of Kurdish nationalism as a direct threat to the existence of the state. Broadcasts in the Kurdish language are illegal in Turkey, and Kurdish activists are closely monitored. Kurdish guerrillas re-elected Ocalan as their president after his capture. The rebel group appears to be led now by a collective leadership that has repeated Ocalan's call for a negotiated end to the conflict. The council followed its offer with a threat of retaliation if Ocalan is executed. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...