Yilmaz asks Moscow to hand over Oclan

Turkish Prime Minister Mesout Yilmaz on Wednesday summoned the Russian ambassador to Turkey and asked him to inform his country the need to hand over leader of the Kurdistani Workers Party Abdullah Oclan to Turkey.

The Turkish daily al-Sabah said on Wednesday that Yilmaz told the ambassador that the place where Oclan exists is in an area to the west of Moscow.

The paper added that the Russian ambassador, who denied the presence of Oclan in Moscow, promised to convey the Turkish request to his government to get back an answer within 24 hours.

Meantime, the Russian Foreign Ministry stressed that it studies the case raised by Turkey concerning the existence of Oclan in Moscow. The spokesman for the Russian Foreign Ministry did not rule out that Moscow would soon issue a statement in this respect.