Öcalan debate divides government

Saturday, March 26, 2005

Foreign Minister Gül, who learned that the European Court of Human Rights will call for the PKK leader’s retrial, has told the government that Turkey can't pick and choose from among the court's decisions

ANKARA - Turkish Daily News

  Foreign Minister Abdullah Gül has warned the government that the European Court of Human Rights will ask for a retrial for the leader of the terrorist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK/Kongra-Gel), Abdullah Öcalan, and noted that Turkey did not have the luxury of picking and choosing from among court decisions.

  According to daily Radikal, Gül briefed Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on the matter and told him that there were rumors about the court asking for a retrial for Öcalan based on him being denied the right to a fair trial.

  Gül told the cabinet Turkey needed to guarantee the right to a fair trial for anyone who faces charges, and could not discriminate against Öcalan. The report said that Gül asked for an amendment in the new Turkish Criminal Code and would meet with Justice Minister Cemil Çiçek on the matter.

  The right to a retrial in accordance with the European Court of Human Rights decisions was included in the third harmonization package, but in the fifth package, Öcalan's case and 90 others were treated as a special case and left out.