Tweet
Re: Prospects of a Kurdish state and what it means for Armenia
'We would have hung Öcalan,' Turkish PM says
The prime minster has angrily responded to claims that his ruling party is negotiating with the main pro-Kurdish party over the release of imprisoned terrorist Abdullah Öcalan. If they had been in power when the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, chief was captured in 1999, he said, Öcalan would have been hung, or they would have quit the coalition government.
“These slanders are being made by MHP [Nationalist Movement Party] leader Devlet Bahçeli,” Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said Thursday in an interview with Kral FM, referring to the negotiations claims.
“I replied to his assertions the other day. I say it again, I give this promise once again,” Erdoğan said, vowing to keep Öcalan locked up on İmralı Island where he is serving a life sentence.
Öcalan was arrested in Kenya in 1999 by American intelligence and was handed to Turkey on the condition that he not be hanged. Turkey abolished the death penalty in 2002, but the MHP, which was part of the coalition government at that time, voted against the move in Parliament.
Erdoğan claimed the three-party coalition signed a decree in early 2002 to postpone the execution of Öcalan and accused Bahçeli of being part of this effort. “If you had not postponed it that time, we would no longer have such an issue on the country’s agenda,” the prime minister said.
Questioned further on the issue, Erdoğan said if he had been in the government at that time, he would have pushed for Öcalan’s execution and would have withdrawn from the coalition government if his partners could not be convinced to carry out the order.
Under the current conditions, Erdoğan made it clear the AKP would not allow a change in Öcalan’s status. “As long as Tayyip is alive and his party continues ruling the country, I won’t allow this to happen,” he said.
The PKK is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union.
'We would have hung Öcalan,' Turkish PM says
The prime minster has angrily responded to claims that his ruling party is negotiating with the main pro-Kurdish party over the release of imprisoned terrorist Abdullah Öcalan. If they had been in power when the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, chief was captured in 1999, he said, Öcalan would have been hung, or they would have quit the coalition government.
“These slanders are being made by MHP [Nationalist Movement Party] leader Devlet Bahçeli,” Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said Thursday in an interview with Kral FM, referring to the negotiations claims.
“I replied to his assertions the other day. I say it again, I give this promise once again,” Erdoğan said, vowing to keep Öcalan locked up on İmralı Island where he is serving a life sentence.
Öcalan was arrested in Kenya in 1999 by American intelligence and was handed to Turkey on the condition that he not be hanged. Turkey abolished the death penalty in 2002, but the MHP, which was part of the coalition government at that time, voted against the move in Parliament.
Erdoğan claimed the three-party coalition signed a decree in early 2002 to postpone the execution of Öcalan and accused Bahçeli of being part of this effort. “If you had not postponed it that time, we would no longer have such an issue on the country’s agenda,” the prime minister said.
Questioned further on the issue, Erdoğan said if he had been in the government at that time, he would have pushed for Öcalan’s execution and would have withdrawn from the coalition government if his partners could not be convinced to carry out the order.
Under the current conditions, Erdoğan made it clear the AKP would not allow a change in Öcalan’s status. “As long as Tayyip is alive and his party continues ruling the country, I won’t allow this to happen,” he said.
The PKK is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union.
Comment