Ocalan to leave Moscow

The French daily Le Monde said on Sunday that Russian Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov has informed his Turkish counterpart of the date of Kurdish Workers Party leader Abdullah Ocalan's departure from Moscow.

The paper reported that the Russian authorities, who kept silent on the presence of Ocalan in Moscow, may have informed the Turks about his destination and his flight number immediately after he left Moscow. The paper noted that Primakov sent a personal cable to his Turkish counterpart, Mesout Yilmaz, telling him that Ocalan would have left Moscow.

Le Monde reported that arresting Ocalan would put an end to 15 years of pursuit by the Turkish authorities. The paper added that Ocalan's case has embraced Italy, where he prepares to seek asylum.

Giving Ocalan asylum will be decided by the Ministries of the Interior and Justice in Italy. The paper added on that arresting "Turkey's number one enemy" would be viewed as a great success for Turkey.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ismail Cem stated that his country is currently preparing a formal request to Italy regarding delivering it the chief of the prohibited Kurdish Workers Party, Abdallah Ocalan, who is currently detained a Rome prison.

Cem said that it is expected that Italy may take a just and serious position regarding delivering Ocalan.

The paper went on to explain that since 1984 the Kurdistani -Turkish conflict has cost Turkey $10 billion. It resulted in the deaths of 30,000 citizens and left homeless some 2 million Kurds and emptied more than 3,000 villages from its population.