Instead of making a hard-line appeal for renewed struggle during his trial for treason in May-June, 1999, Ocalan issued a remarkable statement that called for the implementation of true democracy to solve the Kurdish problem within the existing borders of a united Turkey. In recent years, Attaturk's [the founder of modern Turkey] goal of a modern Turkish nation has ultimately meant membership in what has now become the EU. Although it once seemed an impossible dream, Ocalan's capture and subsequent proposals for a democratic republic in which the Kurdish problem would be solved made a solution to the Kurdish problem a possibility.

While the imprisoned Ocalan was calling for a democratic solution to the Kurdish problem, prominent Turks began to echo his plea. Ahmet Necdet Sezar, President of the Turkish Constitutional Court, followed by Sami Selcuk, Chief Justice of the Turkish Supreme Court of Appeals, made strikingly similar pleas to democratize the Turkish constitution. The PKK responded, "We, as a party and a people, are ready to live with pride in...Turkey, on the essential lines drawn by [these jurists]." Ocalan's death sentence, pronounced on June 29, 1999, started a process of implicit bargaining between the state and the PKK. For that reason, the death sentence met with a restrained reaction from most Kurds, in contrast to the fury his initial capture had elicited. Many Kurds realized that the court's action was just an initial step in what would become a continuing bargaining process. Surveying the situation, prominent Turkish journalist Mehmet Ali Birand admitted that Turkish public opinion is changing dramatically in the wake of the Abdullah Ocalan trial.

Shortly after his conviction, in a statement announced by his lawyers, Ocalan ordered his guerrillas to evacuate Turkey by the end of the year and declared that this command proved his sincere desire to end the conflict. At almost the same time, the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, Harold Hongju Koh, visited Turkey and met with a wide variety of people. Although recognizing Turkey's right to defend itself against the PKK, he upset many Turkish officials with his strong and eloquent recommendations concerning some of the very themes Ocalan was broaching. Koh argued, for example, that far from hurting Turkey's territorial integrity, an inclusive policy acknowledging democratic rights would strengthen the Turkish state by giving the Kurdish community a genuine stake in their country's future.

Turkish president Suleyman Demirel's reception of seven HADEP mayors in Ankara a week later signaled the state's willingness to recognize openly the legitimacy of certain forms of Kurdish political activity. HADEP (the Peoples Democracy Party) had been founded in 1994 as a legal Kurdish party. Although it had not received the ten per cent of the national vote (in the April 1999 elections) required to enter the Turkish parliament, it had elected numerous mayors on the local level.

In the wake of the devastating earthquake that struck western Turkey on August 17, 1999, the state's slow response, as well as its patent corruption in allowing the construction of substandard buildings (most of which collapsed and killed their occupants) led many average Turks to question (perhaps for the first time ever) the sanctity of the so-called Baba Devlet or Daddy State. With Turks themselves now questioning the state, many thought perhaps Kurd grievances were legitimate. From his prison cell, Ocalan announced that the PKK would begin its withdrawal from Turkey immediately in order to show its sympathy for the victims of the earthquake.

In early September, 1999, General Huseyin Kivrikoglu, Chief of the Turkish General Staff, furthered the process of implicit bargaining with his comments on the PKK's partial withdrawal: "[T]he leader of the terrorists [Ocalan] admitted [that] the terrorists have realized they will get nowhere with the use of arms. Now they are contemplating a solution through political means." The General continued, "[T]hey [the PKK] do not want federation, either. What they want are cultural rights." He added that some rights have already been given to Kurds. Kurdish newspapers and cassettes are allowed. Despite the ban on Kurdish broadcasting, radio and TV stations are operating in Kurdish in eastern and southeastern Turkey. Kivrikoglu further noted that HADEP controls the municipalities in 37 cities and major townships. No one has challenged their election. He maintained that as long as they do a decent job and serve the people, no objections will be raised. Kivrikoglu also refrained from calling for Ocalan's execution. Ocalan welcomed Kivrikoglu's statement as a "positive step in developing cultural freedom and democratization."

On November 25, 1999, however, the Turkish Court of Appeals rejected Ocalan's appeal of his death sentence. The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) to which Turkey belonged quickly issued interim measures asking Turkey to suspend the execution until it could rule on his appeal, a process that might take as long as two years. At this point, Turkish candidacy for EU membership entered the picture as the organization gathered in Helsinki, Finland to consider new members. On December 11, 1999, Turkey was finally accepted as a candidate member.

It was clear, however, that Turkey's candidacy hinged on the satisfactory solution of its Kurdish problem and specifically on its suspension of Ocalan's death sentence. As the German ambassador to Turkey put it, "If you execute Ocalan, you can forget Helsinki." Mesut Yilmaz, a former prime minister and currently the head of one of the three parties forming the coalition government headed by Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit, seemed to agree with this assessment when he declared, "The road to the EU passes through Diyarbakir." Diyarbakir is the largest city in Turkey's southeast and has long been considered the unofficial capital of the Kurdish provinces in Turkey. Other Turkish officials pointed out that executing Ocalan might also spark a renewal of the fighting that even Kivrikoglu admitted has declined by 90 per cent since Ocalan ordered the withdrawal, as well as hurt the fragile Turkish economy.

Accordingly, on January 12, 2000, the Turkish government decided to conditionally suspend Ocalan's execution until the ECHR had ruled on it. Although much remains to be accomplished, Ocalan's capture, trial, and death sentence may, ironically, have led to a process of implicit bargaining between the Turkish government and the PKK that holds out the hope of a win/win result for both. If Turkey joins the EU, its territorial integrity, the very concern that has always prevented it from initiating the steps to begin solving its Kurdish problem, would largely be guaranteed. On the other hand, the Kurdish problem would also (at least in part) become the EU's problem and responsibility, thus making it more likely that a satisfactory solution for the Kurds would be found.

Article copyright Cultural Survival, Inc.