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
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