Ankara - Turkish Daily News
The elusive leader of the separatist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK),
Abdullah Ocalan, was captured by the Italian police at a Rome airport
on Friday, and Turkey unleashed an immediate diplomatic offensive for
his extradition.
The news was revealed to the Turkish public first by Security Chief Necati Bilican, who was in Germany
on an official visit. Several hours later, Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz confirmed Ocalan's capture at a press
conference and gave explicit information about the event.
"The murderer responsible for the death of 30,000 people has lost the connection with his organization.
This is the strongest blow ever to the PKK. It is now an organization without a leader... However, we
should not rest. Turkey's struggle against the separatists will continue," Yilmaz told reporters.
He stressed that all legal and diplomatic procedures for Ocalan's extradition had been immediately
inaugurated. Yilmaz had met with Italy's Ambassador Massimiliano Bandini and had officially conveyed
Turkey's demand for extradition. In addition, Turkey's ambassador in Rome, Inal Batu, conveyed the same
request to the Italian Foreign Ministry. For years Ocalan was on Interpol's red bulletin.
"There is no cause for concern that Italy, our NATO ally, will grant political asylum to Ocalan. Russia and
Syria could not do this, and thinking that Italy will do it would be a clear miscalculation... I do not think that
Italy will make a mistake on such a vital issue," Yilmaz stated confidently.
Yilmaz said that Ocalan is currently being kept in the Regina Celli prison. He emphasized that the Italian
authorities had announced that Ocalan had been arrested with the aim of having him extradited to Turkey.
Diplomatic sources told the Turkish Daily News that Ocalan was travelling to Rome upon the invitation
and assurance of the Italian Communists and the political branch of the PKK, the ERNK.
In an apparent search for support for Ocalan's extradition, Yilmaz called for a meeting with the U.S.
Ambassador to Ankara, Mark Parris. "I told him [Parris] about my expectation that our NATO ally Italy will
not take a false step and I asked for support," Yilmaz said.
Turkey's demand for Ocalan's extradition will be assessed by the Italian judiciary. Meanwhile, the Turkish
Interior Ministry will prepare the necessary documents and convey them to Rome. Yilmaz emphasized that
Italy was a signatory of international agreements foreseeing a joint struggle against terrorism and judicial
cooperation, and that according to these agreements, Italy is obliged to extradite Ocalan.
In Rome, Italian justice sources told the Anatolia news agency that Italy has 40 days to decide on the
extradition of Ocalan to Turkey. The final decision will be given by Justice Minister Oliviero Diliberto.
Yilmaz recounted in detail the story of Ocalan's capture. According to the information that the prime
minister disclosed to reporters, Russia's Ambassador to Ankara Alexander Lebedev called him at 11:30
a.m. on Friday, asking for an appointment to convey a message from Russian Prime Minister Yevgeni
Primakov. At the meeting, Lebedev informed Yilmaz that on Thursday night Ocalan left Russia for Rome
on an airplane belonging to the Russian airline Aeroflot, and that the Russian government would never let
him enter the country again.
One hour later, Deputy Chief of Security Halil Tug, accompanying Bilican in Germany, telephoned the
prime minister informing him that Ocalan had been captured by the Italian police. The information was
quickly confirmed by both Italian and Turkish authorities. Yilmaz said that it was not clear whether Italy
was Ocalan's final destination. Press reports claimed that Ocalan came to Rome as a transit stop on his
way to Libya.
According to information provided by the Italian police, Ocalan was captured with a false passport under
the name Abdullah Sarikurt, a Turkish citizen born in 1951 in Konya. Yilmaz said that the Turkish
intelligence was aware in advance that Ocalan held this passport and that Turkey had warned foreign
security services in this respect. The passport was issued by the Turkish Consulate in Frankfurt in 1997.
Sarikurt, for his part, is known to be an active participant in PKK activities in Germany, Yilmaz stated.
Referring to a broadcast of the PKK-financed Med-TV on Friday, in which Ocalan said in a telephone
conversation that he arrived in Italy for political asylum and that the Italian authorities were aware of this in
advance, Yilmaz said that Italian Ambassador Bandini had denied this. "The broadcast was misleading
and a distortion of the realities," he added.
Yilmaz also made clear that Ocalan was not taken to a hospital as some media reports claimed. Ocalan
had told the prison officials that he had a heart problem, but after a medical checkup it turned out that it
was not true, and his demand was rejected, Yilmaz said.
In response to suggestions that PKK heavyweight Murat Karayilan had taken over the terrorist leadership,
Yilmaz said: "The change of a name is not important. A bandit is a bandit. The struggle will continue and
all that is necessary is being done." The anti-PKK operations of the Turkish armed forces in northern Iraq
was continuing successfully, he added.
Bilican informed first
In remarks to the Turkish Daily News over the telephone, Bilican said from Bonn that while he was at a
session in the Office of the Bundeskriminal, a German liaison officer in Rome informed the German police
authorities that Ocalan was arrested.
After receiving confirmation from the Turkish and German liaison officers in Rome, Bilican said that
Ocalan left Russia last night at 9:00 p.m. for Rome. Ocalan, who was traveling alone, was arrested upon
his arrival at the Fiumicino Airport.
Meanwhile, sources close to the PKK claimed that Ocalan is not under arrest in Italy. In a live telephone
conversation with the pro-PKK channel Med-TV, Ocalan said that he came to Rome with the knowledge of
the Italian authorities. "Ways for me to stay here with my political identity are being sought," Ocalan said
on Med-TV.
Bilican told the Turkish Daily News after the appearance of Ocalan on Med-TV that Ocalan is wanted not
only by Turkey but also by Germany. "He is wanted on a red bulletin of Interpol. There are regulations for
criminals wanted by Interpol. If Italy rejects our demand, will it also refuse the demand of Germany,"
Bilican said.
Turkey's ambassador in Italy, Inal Batu, told Anatolia after his talks at the Italian Foreign Ministry that
Italian justice would decide on everything.
"We warned them four times that he could come to Italy from Russia," Batu said.
Italian Interior Ministry officials said that no reciprocal agreement existed between Italy and Turkey for the
extradition of criminals. "But the mutuality of the each country's laws is being worked on," Italian officials
told Anatolia.
Justice Minister Hasan Denizkurdu said that there was no judicial problem concerning Ocalan's extradition
to Turkey from Italy.
Speaking to reporters on Friday, Foreign Minister Ismail Cem said that Ocalan's capture represented an
important phase in Turkey's struggle against terrorism.
Before a budget debate in Parliament, Cem also provided the following details about the arrest: "The
Italian police had been following a representative of the ERNK who was going to the airport to pick up
Ocalan. They followed this person to the airport and arrested Ocalan there," Cem said.
The Foreign Ministry praised Russia as well in a written statement for its efforts related to the Ocalan
case.
PKK in action
Meanwhile, it is being reported that high-level PKK officials have also gone to Rome. PKK members, who
are continuing their negotiations with Italian officials, claim that there is a possibility of Ocalan's being
accepted as a political refugee in Italy.
ERNK officials said that Ocalan demanded asylum from the Italian authorities soon after coming to Italy.
Mizgin, a spokesman for the ERNK's European office claimed that they were hopeful that Ocalan's
request would be accepted by Rome.
"The meeting of the Kurdish parliamentarians-in-exile and Italy's welcome to Kurdish refugees might have
been positive factors that made Ocalan choose Italy," Mizgin said.
Kurdish sources in Sweden said that Ocalan had been planning to go to Italy for months.
Mahmut Baksi, a writer known to be close to Ocalan, stated that the option for the PKK leader to go Italy
had been under consideration since the beginning of the Syrian crisis.
US: 'Ocalan must be extradited'
In an official statement on Friday, Washington announced that Ocalan should be
extradited to Turkey and brought to justice.
The statement said Washington was not precisely aware of the details of Ocalan's
captivity, but welcomed the developments.
The U.S. considers the PKK to be an international terrorist organization. It earlier
called on Moscow to hand Ocalan over to the Turkish authorities if he were found
out to be hiding in Russia.
The statement also said that the U.S. Embassy in Rome was informed by the Italian
authorities about Ocalan's capture through unofficial channels.
The Anatolia news agency also quoted "high-level" U.S. officials as saying that Ocalan should be
extradited in conjunction with the decision by Turkey and Germany to arrest Ocalan.
Also, the British Embassy in Ankara gave its reaction to the capture of Ocalan. "We welcome the
announcement of the arrest of Abdullah Ocalan. This is a significant advance in the international
community's fight against terrorism. The British government has repeatedly condemned acts of terrorism,"
said a British diplomat in Ankara.