ERNK Press Release on Ocalan's Status in Rome, Italy

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Message-ID: <199811140337.WAA19374 at repulse>
Subject: ERNK Press Release on Ocalan's Status in Rome, Italy
Date: Fri, 13 Nov 98 22:40:56 -0400
From: <akin at kurdish.org>
To: <friends at kurdish.org>
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[AKIN's note: the following is an ERNK Press Release on Ocalan's =
Status in Rome, Italy]

Press Release
National Liberation Front of Kurdistan (ERNK)
November 13, 1998

Ocalan Asks for Political Status

The President of Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), Abdullah Ocalan, flew =
into Rome=B9s Fiumicino Airport yesterday, November 12, 1998, and =
applied for political status.  He is now being held in Celio Hospital =
near Rome as the authorities are dealing with necessary legal =
procedures to accommodate his request.

Any outside observer who takes the time to study the recent history =
of the Kurdish Question can not fail to be impressed by the very =
positive, patient and painstaking efforts President Ocalan has made =
to the search for a peaceful political solution to the ongoing =
conflict in Kurdistan.  He has stood out for peace at a time when =
Turkish state has pursued increasingly belligerent and provocative =
tactics that have risked a full-scale conflict engulfing the whole of =
the Middle East.  In the face of all this, President Ocalan =
courageously has kept to the path of peace.  It is time he and the =
party he represents were given the full credit for this and accorded =
the respect of the International community.

Mr. Ocalan has a crucial role to play in any future resolution of the =
conflict and the world needs to recognize this.  If there is ever to =
be a peace settlement the status of President Ocalan and the PKK has =
to be more widely acknowledged by official circles as the legitimate =
representatives of the Kurdish people.  The Kurds have repeatedly =
demonstrated their support for the PKK and President Ocalan and who =
are in we in the West to deny them the right to select their own =
leaders.  Isn=B9t this, after all, the essence of self-determination?

President Ocalan=B9s efforts, if successful, will eventually be =
applauded by the Turks and Kurds alike.  By taking the initiative for =
peace as Mr. Ocalan has done once again with the latest announcement =
of a unilateral cease-fire he and the PKK represent the true =
aspirations of the Kurdish people and many ordinary Turks as well.  =
They want nothing more than an end to a war that has left thousands =
dead, the destruction of villages and a way of life that had been =
ongoing for thousands of years.

We believe it is the hope of the many individuals in Europe who see =
themselves as the friends of Kurds and who understand the scale of =
the suffering inflicted on the Kurdish people that the Italian =
government must grant Abdullah Ocalan the political status.

We call on all concerned to encourage the Italian government to take =
this historic step which will also contribute to the political =
solution of the Kurdish Question.





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