MAIN | BACKGROUNDER | WHO'S OCALAN? | ARREST TIMELINE | PKK PROFILE WHO ARE THE KURDS? | WHERE ARE THE KURDS? | TURKEY AND HUMAN RIGHTS FREEDOM FIGHTERS OR TERRORISTS? | TURKEY TIMELINE | MESSAGE BOARD

Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan looks at the judge as he is sentenced to death RELATED VIDEO CNN's Matthew Chance reports on the death sentence for Ocalan, whose 15-year fight for Kurdish independence left thousands dead Windows Media 28K 80K  ALSO: Turkish court sentences Kurdish leader Ocalan to death

June 29, 1999
Web posted at: 10:55 a.m. EDT (1455 GMT)

From staff and wire reports

In this story: International condemnation Security tight Rebels threaten violence RELATED STORIES, SITES

ANKARA, Turkey -- The Turkish government on Tuesday said suggestions from the international community to commute the death sentence given to Kurdish rebel chief Abdullah Ocalan were premature.

"We must await completion of the process," said foreign ministry spokesman Sermet Atacanli, quoted by the Anatolian news agency. "Beyond that, we neither have authority to interfere with the judicial rulings, nor will we accept such advice or interference from other countries."

A Turkish court sentenced Ocalan on Monday to hang for leading the Kurdish Workers' Party's (PKK) 15-year separatist campaign. The court held that Ocalan was responsible for more than 30,000 deaths during the long fight.

The verdict is automatically appealed, and if upheld, referred to parliament and Turkey's president for ratification. But the European community was quick to condemn the Turkish court's sentencing.

The Council of Europe, urged against executing Ocalan, noting that Turkish President Suleyman Demirel had pledged in 1997 to abolish the death penalty or uphold an existing moratoria on executions.

Who's Ocalan? Chart: Tracking Ocalan's Arrest Analysis: The Kurds' Grievances Forum: Your Comments

"This is an historic achievement which must be upheld," the 41-nation council said in a statement. "We are confident that the Grand National Assembly will defend Turkey's good record in this field."

Turkey has not executed a prisoner in 15 years.

International condemnation

Reaction was swift -- and overwhelmingly negative -- across Europe. German Interior Minister Otto Schily said in a statement that he hoped Demirel would review the court decision, and urged Kurds to remain calm for the duration of the legal process.

Switzerland warned that an execution could unleash a new wave of violence around the continent, while in neighboring Italy, the leader of the ruling coalition's biggest party urged "immediate action ... to save Ocalan's life."

"We believe this death sentence delivered by the Turkish court against Ocalan is both absurd and very grave," said Walter Veltroni, chairman of Prime Minister Massimo D'Alema's Democrats of the Left party.

Veltroni added that the sentence could create serious complications to Turkey's relationship with the rest of Europe.

The British government also said it would lobby for the ruling to be overturned.

Turkey, which belongs to NATO, has so far been denied membership in the European Union, and some fear an execution could damage the country's chances of membership in the near future.

Security tight

Across Europe, security forces prepared for violence in the wake of the Ocalan verdict. When Turkish commandos captured the rebel chief in February, Kurdish activists launched a series of violent protests around the world, taking over embassies and blocking streets. More than a dozen people died.

In the early hours following announcement of the verdict, small, largely low-key protests popped up. Several hundred people had gathered outside the U.S. Embassy in London, where CNN's Tom Mintier said the reactions by Kurdish activists was "swift and very vocal, not violent."

Correspondent Bettina Luscher in Germany said that all was quiet in Berlin, and a small, peaceful demonstration was underway in Bonn. Demonstrations were also underway in other cities.

In Moscow, hundreds of Kurds took to the streets to protest the sentence.

But while demonstrations simmered in several European cities, international observers expected that violent protests along the lines of those that took place in February would not break out unless Ocalan's sentence is upheld throughout the Turkish judicial process.

Rebels threaten violence

Both the PKK and its political arm, the National Liberation Front of Kurdistan (ERNK) condemned the verdict Tuesday. A PKK spokeswoman in London said that the outlawed rebel group warned that the Kurdish battle against Turkey would spread west, striking economic targets. ERNK said it would now reconsider its strategy.

"The PKK has regarded this process as illegal from the beginning," ERNK said in a statement. "We naturally therefore do not recognize the ruling and want to express our deepest regret and protest."

The human rights watchdog group Amnesty International also questioned the legality of the death sentence and urged a retrial.

"The death sentence as passed at the conclusion of a trial that violated both national law and international standards for a fair trial," the organization said in a statement. "Abdullah Ocalan should be tried before a competent, independent and impartial tribunal."

The international objection to Ocalan's death sentence contrasted wildly, however, with the reaction of Turks to the news. The Turks, who largely revile Ocalan as a terrorist, cheered the verdict.

Correspondents Bettina Lüscher, Tom Mintier, and Matthew Chance, and Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.