February 19, 1999

Kurdish Leader Isolated on Turkish Island

By STEPHEN KINZER

STANBUL, Turkey -- All eyes turned Thursday toward a small island in the Sea of Marmara where the
Turks' most hated enemy is being held prisoner.

The island, called Imrali, was until Tuesday a largely unknown place. The main building there serves as an
open prison to which pickpockets and other petty criminals are sent to serve sentences under the loose
vigilance of friendly guards.

All of that has now changed. On Tuesday the principal Kurdish guerrilla leader, Abdullah Ocalan, was
brought to Imrali. He had been living clandestinely in Kenya under the protection of Greek diplomats until
he was seized by Turkish commandos on Monday night.

Other prisoners who had been living on Imrali were quickly moved to other prisons, places where there
are no sea breezes and no views of passing freighters. Ocalan was placed in an isolation cell, unable to
enjoy the island's delights.

Naval boats have been deployed around Imrali, which lies 35 miles southwest of Istanbul, and military
helicopters patrol overhead.

Prosecutors arrived on the island Thursday to begin their interrogation of Ocalan. "It can continue for at
most seven days," Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit told an interviewer in Ankara, "but I'm sure the
questioning may end before that time."

Ocalan is likely to be tried for treason and other crimes that carry the death sentence. Although the death
penalty remains on the books, there have been no executions in Turkey since 1984.

Officials of the Justice Ministry said Ocalan's first hearing before a judge could come within the next two
weeks, though his trial probably will not begin for several months. They said all judicial proceedings would
be held at Imrali.

Television stations showed footage Thursday of Ocalan at Imrali. He was standing before two Turkish
flags, and at one point he complained about the bright television lights.

As Ocalan was undergoing his first interrogation, Turkey pressed its fight against Kurdish nationalists on
military and political fronts.

A spokesman for the Turkish Army said soldiers had killed five members of Ocalan's rebel force near the
eastern town of Tunceli.

Soldiers also struck guerrilla sanctuaries in northern Iraq. Several thousand troops entered Iraq on
Wednesday, and Thursday they pounded targets with missiles fired from American-made Cobra
helicopters.

The Turkish police raided offices of the People's Democracy Party, which is mainly Kurdish, and homes
of its members in Istanbul and eastern provinces.

According to human rights advocates, several hundred people were arrested. Prosecutors charge that the
party functions as an arm of Ocalan's movement.

Other Kurds were arrested in Istanbul after a night of disturbances in several neighborhoods, during which
windows were smashed, firebombs thrown and cars attacked.

News reports from Kenya suggested that the American and Israeli secret services had helped Turkish
agents capture Ocalan. The United States has denied direct involvement, and Israeli officials said they
were not involved in any way.

"There was no Israeli role whatsoever," said Eli Shaked, the Israeli Consul in Istanbul.

The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France, reported that it had received a complaint
from Ocalan's lawyers charging that the Turkish authorities were violating his rights to be tried fairly and
protected from torture. It said the lawyers had asked the court to take "emergency steps" to protect him,
but gave no indication of whether it would seek to do so.

A pro-Ocalan group called the Kurdish Parliament in Exile urged Western nations to create an international
court to try him, rather than letting Turkey do so.

At a news conference in Brussels, a leader of the group, Zuber Aydar, also called for "an international
conference, including Kurdish representatives, to discuss the Kurdish question."