Ocalan trial casts light on Turkey's human rights record

By Suzanne Kelly
Special to CNN Interactive

BONN (CNN) -- When Turkish secret agents swept down to arrest Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Ocalan in Kenya in February, it was more than the successful end to a long mission to hunt down the man who the Turkish government sees as its biggest criminal.

Ocalan's arrest after years as a fugitive has also focused the international spotlight on the question of human rights in Turkey itself -- ironically, the PKK leader's long-time aim.

How is it possible that this one man could play such a central role in spotlighting an entire country's unwillingness to adapt to the ways of the western world when it comes to issues of human rights?

The answer is complicated. For one thing, Ocalan's PKK is often described as a violent opposition force, charged with atrocities against children and those who are unable to defend themselves.

But Ocalan's case was watched by people and political leaders around the world for another reason. The international audience was not as interested in the outcome as they were in the way the Turkish government, which itself has been charged with violating the basic rights of those who speak out against it, conducted the proceedings.

European Union officials claim that Turkey, which for decades has been trying to gain entry into the EU, still does not have a "respectable" human rights record or a respectable record for ensuring fair trials to people who speak out, peacefully or not, against the Turkish government.

According to international observers like Amnesty International, in many cases, people who have dared to speak out against the government, even peacefully, have been imprisoned, or have disappeared.

While Turkey continues to press for membership in the EU, the European Parliament points to the country's record on human rights as the main reason for leaving the Turks out in the cold. The EU specifically objects to the government's treatment of the Kurds, the very people who Ocalan says he represents.

But not everyone sees the trial the way that McVeigh, or perhaps the European Union, sees it. Germany is now home to the largest population of Turks living outside of Turkey.

Osman Medeni is a board member of the German-Turkish Cultural Society in Bonn. He says that the Ocalan trial is nobody's business, except Turkey's, and certainly not something that should be used to criticize the government.

As the Kurdish cause and Ocalan come under scrutiny, there will be an unspoken dialogue between Turkey and its European Union neighbors, in terms of how much of a compromise each is willing to accept in forging a relationship.