Top Kurd Rebel Warns Against His Execution

In his closing statements to a Turkish court, Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan warned Wednesday that, if Turkey ignores his call for peace and sends him to the gallows, “thousands of people will start the terror machine for me.”

Ocalan’s chilling threat comes just days before a Turkish court is expected to decide whether to convict the rebel leader and sentence him to hang for leading a 15-year guerrilla war.

Throughout the trial, which began May 31, Ocalan has offered to talk peace and bring his guerrillas down from their hide-outs in the rugged mountains of southeastern Turkey. He has warned of massive carnage if he is executed.

“The time has come, and in fact is passing, to give up the armed struggle,” Ocalan said Wednesday, speaking from inside a bulletproof cage in a courthouse on the prison island of Imrali.

Ocalan has admitted to having led the rebel Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, and the court is almost certain to convict him of treason, which would automatically lead to a death sentence. The PKK has been fighting for an independent state in Turkey’s Kurdish-dominated southeast.

A verdict could come as early as today, although there is speculation that the judges will order a recess before making an announcement.

If Ocalan is convicted, the death sentence would be automatically appealed. It must also be endorsed by parliament and approved by President Suleyman Demirel. Turkey has not carried out an execution since 1984.

“My determination to end the armed conflict is not aimed at saving myself,” Ocalan said. “It means an escape from a dangerous and meaningless stalemate.”

Turkey regards the PKK as a terrorist group and is almost certain to ignore his pleas for peace talks.

During the last few years, the Turkish military has forced Ocalan’s guerrillas from towns and villages into the barren mountains, where they are bombarded by helicopter gunships and warplanes.

Although the PKK poses little threat to the stability of southern Turkey, Ocalan’s warnings of terrorist attacks are likely to be taken seriously.

More than a dozen Turks were killed in attacks after Ocalan’s February capture in Kenya.