DATE=2/28/2000 TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT TITLE=TURKEY / KURDS UPDATE(L ONLY) NUMBER=2-259639 BYLINE=AMBERIN ZAMAN DATELINE=ANKARA CONTENT= VOICED AT: INTRO: A Turkish news agency (Anatolia) is reporting that the country's interior ministry has reinstated three Kurdish mayors who had been removed from office for alleged links with Kurdish separatists. The reinstatement follows a court ruling earlier Monday that the men should be released from prison. The men will now be able to keep their posts until their trial is concluded. Amberin Zaman reports from Ankara. TEXT: Thousands of people gathered outside Diyarbakir's maximum security prison after hearing the news that the three Kurdish mayors were being set free. /// OPT /// The mayors -- Feridun Celik of Diyarbakir, Selim Ozalp of Siirt, and Feyzullah Karaaslan of Bingol -- were showered with flowers and loudly cheered as they emerged after more than one week of confinement. /// END OPT /// A state security court in Diyarbakir ordered the men released following an appeal from their lawyers. The charges against the mayors include the illegal transfer of money to Kurdish rebels and secret meetings in Europe with a commander of the rebel group P-K-K. The three deny the charges that are said to be based on the testimony of captured P-K-K rebels and sympathizers. The United States and European governments have criticized the arrests, especially at a time when P-K- K leader Abdullah Ocalan has pledged that his men will never again resort to armed violence. He has also renounced his demands for Kurdish independence. Critics describe Ocalan's about-face as an attempt to save his life. A Turkish court sentenced Ocalan to death on treason charges last June. But even the critics agree that no matter what the rebel leader's motivation, the P-K-K leader has created an unprecedented opportunity for peace through his overtures to the Turkish government. Nearly 40-thousand people have died since the P-K-K launched its armed rebellion for an independent Kurdish state. (SIGNED) NEB/AZ/JWH/RAE/KL 28-Feb-2000 13:51 PM EDT (28-Feb-2000 1851 UTC) NNNN Source: Voice of America .
