Ocalan's appeal to live divides Kurds

ANKARA [MENL] -- Supporters of Kurdish Workers Party leader Abdullah Ocalan have been divided by his appeal for mercy from a Turkish court that sentenced him to death.

Turkish newspapers said on Wednesday that Kurdish insurgents are split between those who support Ocalan's offer of a truce with Turkey and a peaceful solution of the Kurdish quest of self-rule and those who term the PKK leader a coward for cooperating with Turkish authorities. Ocalan was sentenced to death on June 29 but the sentence will be appealed.

The rift has led to calls within the Kurdish insurgency that the PKK should quit from an umbrella group of guerrillas. At a recent conference in Germany, outlawed Kurdish groups called Ocalan a coward and clashed with PKK representatives.

The parley was marred by those within the PKK itself, the Star daily said. Two correspondents of the pro-PKK Ozgur Gundem newspaper, Selim Firat and Hasan Oguz, argued over the leadership of Ocalan.

Turkish officials are closely following developments among Kurdish insurgents. They said the prosecution of Ocalan has left the PKK leaderless and sparked confusion among other Kurdish groups. The PKK is said to have 11,500 members in Germany alone, said a 1998 German report.

The officials said the capture of Ocalan could affect the support the Kurds obtain in Europe. A German report cited by the Milliyet daily said the PKK was provided with military training in Germany and neighboring countries. The newspaper said the training lasted three months and then was sent to southeastern Turkey to fight troops.

On Wednesday, the Foreign Ministry warned Italy against intervening in the Ocalan case. "We desire Italian state officials to treat this subject with a realistic, rational and serious approach," Foreign Ministry spokesman Sermet Atacanli said, "and thus prevent the friendly relations between the two countries being further overshadowed.

Meanwhile, Turkish troops continued their offensive against Kurdish insurgents in northern Iraq. Officials said the Turkish military is being helped by Kurdish allies in northern Iraq.