Bulletin de liaison et d'information - Institut kurde de Paris

Revue de Presse-Press Review-Berhevoka Çapê-Rivista Stampa-Dentro
Netherlands Denies Asylum for Kurd Leader
AMSTERDAM, March 30 (Reuters) - The Netherlands have denied political asylum to
senior Kurdish rebelleader Murat Karayilan, his lawyer said on Thursday.
"We have received a negative decision," LL M Gerda Later told Reuters, adding her client
would appeal the ruling.
"It is a pity because the Kurds are striving for peace and democracy and this kind of decision
does not contribute much."
Karayilan, who fled to the Netherlands last November, was a member of the central
committee of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which has fought a 15-year war in
southeast Turkey for Kurdish self rule that has resulted in 30,000 deaths.
A spokeswoman for the Dutch Justice Ministry said Turkey's extradition request could take
several months to process.
Turkey -- where courts began hearings in December against PKK guerrillas for crimes
allegedly committed in the 1970s -- applied for Karayilan's extradition in February.
A Turkish court sentenced PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan to death for treason last June, but
the Turkish government is awaiting a ruling by the European Court of Human Rights before
a final decision is made by Turkey's parliament.
Ocalan has called on the PKK to stop fighting and prepare for a transformation into a
political force.
Kurdish sources had said Karayilan, code-named Cemal, was said to be previously holed up
with the group's other leaders in northern Iraq or Iran.
He was one of the fiercest advocates of the PKK's armed campaign against Turkish forces.
Reports have surfaced of splits in the leadership of the PKK, with a former Ocalan ally this
week describing the rebelleader in an Italian newspaper interview as a wretch who had
betrayed his people to save his own life.
The Turkish community is one of the largest migrant groups in the Netherlands, numbering
around 300,000.
Karayilan has been accused by Turkish leaders, including Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit, of
meeting in the Netherlands with three Kurdish mayors of Turkish cities.
The three, who were arrested last month, had swept to power with large majorities alongside
dozens of fellow People's Democracy Party (HADEP) mayors in the troubled and mainly
Kurdish southeast Turkey.
****************
Ecevit Leaves
On State Visit
Despite Crisis
By Stephen Kinzer
N~ flirt Tinlf!s S~n'ic~
ISTANBUL - When Prime Minister
Bulent Ecevit boarded a plane Thursday
to begin a state visit to India, he left
behind a country that suddenly seemed
to be at the brink of political upheaval.
, 'While I am in India I shall reflect on
many things, including the continuation
of the government," Mr. Ecevit said
before departing. "Let everyone think:
about that for the next four days."
A turbùlent session of Parliament that
lasted into Thursday produced Mr.
Ecevit's warning. The session had been
called' to consider a constitutioftal
amendment to allow President Suleyman
Demirel to serve another five years
in office, but it dissolved into a partisan
battle that seemed to bode ill for the
country's stability.
It also opened up possibilities for
change in a country where the political
elite is widely viewed as highly conservative.
Mr. Ecevit had argued that
President Demirel should be re-elected
because he is "a factor for stability," but
Turks seem more anxious for change
than stability. There was no public pressure
on members of Parliament to support
Mr. Demirel, and Thursday, with his
prospects in doubt, there were no signs
of regret.
"I think Demirel with withdraw," one
of his oldest political allies. the former
de la Prensa-Basm Özeti
speaker of Parliament, Husamettin Cindoruk,
said in an interview. "He is an
experienced statesman. Parliament has
shown its will, and he will not resist it. "
"There isn't a crisis of stability in
Turkey, but there is a crisis of democracy,"
Mr. Cindoruk said.
Mr. Ecevit warned that the end of
President Demirel's term could upset all
that his government has achieved. He
said that if a way is not found to keep Mr.
Demirel in office, the scramble to succeed
him may release passions that he has
so far managed to keep under control.
Because the constitution requires Mr.
Demirel to step down when his single
seven-year term expires in May, an
amendment must be passed if he is to stay
in office. Mr. Ecevit proposed such an
amendment in Parliamenton Wednesday.
But it failed by a wide margin. If it fails
again next week, it will be dead and Mr.
Demirel will have to give up his post.
9S