February 19, 1999

Turkish Troops Chase Kurdish Rebels

Filed at 7:01 a.m. EST

By The Associated Press

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) -- Pounding rebel bases in northern Iraq and hunting
fighters in their mountain hideouts, Turkey's army is bearing down hard on a
Kurdish guerrilla group following the capture of its leader.

The Turkish military released no casualty figures from the fighting in
northern Iraq against Kurdish rebels loyal to Abdullah Ocalan, who was
abducted by Turkish commandos in Kenya on Monday.

With Ocalan's rebel Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, apparently leaderless,
the military kept up its latest incursion into neighboring northern Iraq in
pursuit of guerrillas who have bases there. Iraq denies harboring the rebels.

The Kurd rebels, who want to carve out an autonomous homeland in
southeast Turkey, have offered to negotiate, but Turkey has rejected the
offer and is pressing forward with a military solution.

Turkish newspapers said that about 10,000 soldiers had stormed into
northern Iraq. Baghdad has strongly denounced the incursion and has
demanded that Turkey withdraw.

In southern Turkey, meanwhile, pro-Kurd demonstrators protesting the
capture of Ocalan (pronounced OH'-jah-lahn) fired on police Thursday,
wounding three officers and a protester, the official Anatolia news agency
reported.

The clash in Ceyhan, 330 miles south of Ankara, was the first violent
confrontation between Kurds and police since Ocalan's capture.

Turks have been celebrating since the capture of Ocalan, and many hope that
his trial will help lead to an end to the conflict. Some 37,000 people have died
since fighting erupted in 1984.

Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit said the government would renew a call to
rebels to surrender, assuring them that parliament would pass a law providing
lenient punishment after elections in April.

Ecevit also hinted that Turkey received outside help in capturing Ocalan, a
newspaper said today. He was quoted by national daily Hurriyet as saying that
the decision to capture Ocalan was made after Turkey received information
about his whereabouts earlier this month.

When asked whether assistance from the United States or any other country
helped Turkey locate Ocalan in Kenya, Ecevit said: ``I can't reveal that. I can't
give country name. But you can make your own guess.''

Reports said that the intelligence agencies of the United States or Israel had a
hand in Ocalan's capture. Israel denied a role, and Washington said it did not
have a hand in the rebel leader's capture or transfer to Turkey.

Fallout was heavy after the Turkish commando operation that snatched
Ocalan from Greek diplomatic hands in Nairobi, Kenya on Monday.

Three Greek Cabinet ministers, including the foreign minister, were forced to
resign, and in Nairobi, the Cabinet was reshuffled.

The capture of Ocalan fueled Kurdish protests in Europe for the third day on
Thursday, particularly in Germany, where it was feared the Kurdish conflict
would spill over onto its soil.

In Germany, home to Western Europe's largest Kurdish community, Kurds
attacked eateries run by Turks in Heilbronn and Muenster, beating six people.

Three Kurds were shot to death by Israeli guards Wednesday as they tried to
storm the Israeli consulate in Berlin, after reports Israel helped Turkey track
down Ocalan.

Turkish prosecutors began their interrogation of Ocalan on Thursday,
traveling to the tiny prison-island of Imrali, off the coast of Istanbul.

The military released videotapes Thursday showing Ocalan drenched in sweat
and looking uncomfortable, standing between two red Turkish flags at the
prison.

Turkish stations ran the footage with a caption reading: ``This is the image
Turkey has been waiting for for the past 15 years.''

Ocalan is expected to be formally charged next week.

In a separate matter, Ocalan's Dutch lawyers say they have been put under
extra police protection after calls from Turkey's Foreign Ministry to protest
their activities, according to Ocalan's chief attorney Britta Boehler.

``We were advised by the (Dutch) interior and justice ministries to take on
extra protection and the police have stepped up surveillance of the building,''
Boehler said from her office in Amsterdam.