Press Statement From The National Liberation Front Of Kurdistan
(ERNK) Concerning The Verdict And Death Sentence Against
Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) Leader Abdullah Ocalan

     Today, the tragedy of Imrali, an event which has been called
the "trial of the century", has come to an end. This trial will
go down in history as one of the most unfair trials ever
witnessed. As was expected, our chairman has been sentenced to
death. From the beginning, the PKK viewed these proceedings as
illegitimate. It goes without saying that we do not accept the
verdict. We would like to make it clear that we deeply regret
this verdict and protest against it. It is without any legal
basis and is in contradiction with the ethical norms which one
party at war is supposed to afford to the other. That's why we,
the Kurdish people, view this verdict as a fascistic and
nationalistic attack on our nation and our dignity, and we
condemn it sharply.
     In this conflict, the Kurds are the victims, they are not
the ones who should be charged. Because of this, the verdict is
completely illegal. We never doubted for a moment that the trial
against out leader should by all rights end in an acquittal,
because the struggle of the Kurdish people and the PKK is a
legitimate defense in the face of the policies of destruction
being practiced on the Kurdish people. The Kurdish people have
never had any other alternative but to struggle.
     With this verdict, the Turkish side have rejected the
Kurdish side's calls for a peaceful solution to the war and an
end to the bloodshed. They have wasted an historical opportunity
for a democratic solution to the Kurdish question and ignored
their responsibilities to both the Turkish and the Kurdish
peoples.
     This verdict now opened the path in Turkey, and the Middle
East as a whole, for new, dangerous conflicts and periods of
degeneration. The Turkish state has but one last chance to
prevent this from happening.
     Our leader has, under the most difficult of circumstances,
behaved in a necessary and responsible manner with respect to
both the Kurdish and the Turkish peoples during this trial, and
continued his calls for a solution within a democratic framework
and for a dialogue. He did everything possible to try and achieve
a definitive peace. Despite the aggressive and intensely
chauvinistic behavior from those circles which wish to continue
this war, our leader pleaded for calm and refused to be
influenced by the numerous provocations.
     We did not recognize the legitimacy of this trial, but we
did see it as a process which offered the possibility of a
dialogue with the Turkish state with our chairman as our
representative. The court proceedings were, for us, a negotiating
table. The verdict now makes it quite clear that this has
resulted in a negative result. From this moment on, our leader is
a hostage in the hands of the Turkish state.
     We cannot sit back in silence and accept this verdict. It is
unacceptable that the generosity and proud conduct of the Kurdish
people have been answered with an unjust and illegal verdict. We
shall react to this new development differently than we did
before the verdict. We are now in a completely new situation. Our
party will expose this new situation from all sides and realize
its new strategy and praxis within a short time.

ERNK European Representation
June 29, 1999

(Source: Kurdistan Informatie Centrum Amsterdam; Translated by
Arm The Spirit)