Ocalan to be tried in April
Regional-Turkey, Politics, 2/22/1999

The Turkish dailies confirmed on Saturday that the trial of Kurdistan Workers Party chairman Abdullah Ocalan is to start early in April and that Ocalan might be sentenced in May.

The dailies also said international observers will not be allowed to attend the trial. Turkey has banned the entry of foreign lawyers into Turkey to defend Ocalan.

Anatolia news agency said several shops and cars were set on fire on Friday in Istanbul during clashes that erupted during Kurds' demonstrations in protest against the arrest of Ocalan. 15 people were detained during the clashes.

The police also detained people in Istanbul who are members of the People's Democracy Party PDP. A spokesman for the pro-Kurd PDP said that about 1,500 of its members had been detained throughout Turkey since the arrest of Ocalan.

Meanwhile, over 2,000 people demonstrated in Tehran on Saturday in front of the Turkish embassy, which was surrounded by Iranian security troops. The demonstrators chanted slogans against Turkey, the US and Israel, then they marched to the UN office in Tehran, where they released a statement condemning the kidnapping of Ocalan and the Turkish-Israeli military alliance.

Previous Stories:
  Report: Ocalan's lawyer tells the story of his capture   (2/19/1999)
  Ocalan capture: Mossad kills 3 Kurds in Berlin   (2/18/1999)
  Reactions to Ocalan arrest   (2/16/1999)

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