Turkey Puts Itself on Trial in Ocalan Case

Be careful of what you wish for. Now that NATO member Turkey has Kurdish guerrilla leader Abdullah Ocalan where it wants him -- captive and pleading for his life -- it faces unanticipated political dangers. "Capturing Ocalan and putting him on trial has had the unintended consequence of focusing international attention on Turkey's human rights record and its treatment of the Kurds," says TIME U.N. correspondent William Dowell. "NATO's Kosovo campaign also increases pressure on Turkey to conform to the standards of an alliance that is taking military action in defense of human rights."

The Kurdish guerrilla leader's trial entered its second day with Ocalan urging his supporters to lay down their arms and warning of a bloodbath if he's executed. Ocalan's comments confirm suggestions that he is bargaining for his life in court rather than facing a trial in the sense that any of Turkey's NATO allies might use the term. Ocalan's lawyers complain that they've had no unfettered access to their client, and human rights organizations have questioned the credentials of a court in which one of the judges is a military appointee. Although the charges against Ocalan carry a mandatory death penalty, the Turkish government has discretion over whether to actually carry out the execution. "They may decide he is more useful to them alive and in a nebulous position where he's essentially pleading for his life," says Dowell. But with Kosovo firing up NATO members over the human rights of ethnic minorities, Ocalan's trial may also put Turkey itself in the dock.