Simply following its own instincts would in all likelihood lead Turkeys strongly nationalist parliament to give Ocalan the rope. But pressure against executing Ocalan will come from Turkeys NATO allies, particularly in Europe. While Western governments dont doubt the viciousness of Ocalans insurgency, they tend to put it in the context of Turkeys denial of the cultural and language rights of its Kurdish population: Turkey treats any assertion of a distinct Kurdish identity as a threat to the integrity of the state. This has allowed Ocalan, during his trial, to cloak himself in the mantle of an interlocutor for a disenfranchised population - obviously mindful of the fact that in the Kosovo conflict NATO ostensibly went to war to secure autonomy for an oppressed group within Yugoslavia. In addition, the trial doesnt appear to have reduced support for his cause in Turkeys heavily Kurdish southeast. So whether or not Turkey actually executes Ocalan, its likely to continue to be plagued by the cause of which he is a symptom.
Turkey Faces Furor Over Ocalan Death Sentence
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Neither the verdict nor the sentence was ever in doubt; now Turkey faces a political decision over whether to hang its most hated enemy. Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan was convicted of treason and sentenced to death by a Turkish court Tuesday. The death sentence - mandatory for treason - goes automatically to an appeals court, where it is expected to be upheld. Then its up to parliament and the president to sign off on the hanging - and although Turkey hasnt executed anyone in 15 years, the clamor for Ocalans head may prove irresistible. The brutal Kurdish-nationalist insurgency led by Ocalan and the ferocious Turkish government repression it occasioned has claimed as many as 30,000 lives, all of which the government blames on Ocalan.