APOLOGY: 'I share the grief of the families of the martyrs...
I apologize. I promise that I will from now on work for the
establishment of peace'
OFFER: 'For peace and brotherhood at the axis of a
democratic republic, I am ready to serve the Turkish state,
and I believe that for this end I must remain alive'
TRIAL
INDEX
Ocalan's 20-year journey from Bekaa valley to Imrali island
Ankara- Turkish Daily News
The trial of terrorist leader Abdullah Ocalan kicked off on Monday, putting him at the very center of Turkey's agenda after 20 years of hiding and bloody fighting against the state.
Ocalan's calamitous journey started on June 2, 1979 when he went to Lebanon via Syria, where the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) found a safe haven, established camps and launched their deadly offensives into Southeast Anatolia.
Following strong pressure from Turkey the PKK, camps in the infamous Bekaa valley were closed down in 1992. But this did not end Syria's support for the PKK. Ocalan moved to Damascus, finding there comfortable refuge and protection by the Hafiz Assad regime.
Ocalan's no-return journey started on Oct. 9, 1998 when Syria bowed to Turkey's pressure, solidified with threats of military action, and showed him the door. Ocalan ended up in the hands of Turkish authorities four months later after a breathtaking hide-and-seek game on three continents.
Here is a brief chronology of Ocalan's journey from Damascus to Imrali:
Oct. 9, 1998: Ocalan takes a plane from Damascus to Stockholm. He lands in Athens where the PKK representative in Greece, Ayfer Kaya, has obtained consent from Greek officials for Ocalan's arrival.
Facing a fait accomplis arranged by some parliamentarians and intelligence officers, Greek Prime Minister Costas Simitis orders Ocalan's immediate departure. Ocalan contacts his people in Russia and leaves for this country in the afternoon together with Ayfer Kaya on a private jet allocated by Greece.
A PKK member codenamed Mahir, a Russian parliamentarian and two Istanbul businessmen meet Ocalan and Kaya in Russia.
Oct. 11. 1998: Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz announces that Ocalan is in Russia in a Moscow suburb. Moscow denies this. Meanwhile, Ocalan stays in a two-storey house but at the same time looks for another country to go to.
Nov. 12, 1998: Ocalan arrives in Rome in the late hours of the day via a Russian airlines upon invitation by Communist deputies. Ocalan is arrested on charges of holding a false passport. Later he is released and settled in a villa in a Rome suburb. Italy rejects extraditing Ocalan to Turkey. A severe diplomatic crisis erupts between Ankara and Rome.
The pressure on Ocalan mounts and he fears that he may be arrested again on charges of crimes committed by the PKK in Germany and France. He looks for another country to go to. The European countries make it clear that if Ocalan comes he will not be treated in a way different than in Italy. Britain sends a written message to him saying that he is not welcomed in any case.
Jan. 16, 1999: Ocalan returns to Russia, where Russian intelligence officers give him 10 days to leave the country. Ocalan is caught in a vicious circle and again contacts his supporters in Greece.
Feb. 1, 1999: Ocalan arrives in Greece for a second time. He is not let out of the airport and is transported to a Greek military base on the island of Corfu. Greek intelligence looks for a country that will accept him.
Eventually he embarks to the Belarus capital Minsk from where he is scheduled to fly to the Netherlands. However, the plane that will fly him to the Dutch capital does not arrive, and all European capitals make it clear that he is not welcomed.
Feb. 2. 1999: Ocalan returns to Greece. Desperate to get rid of him, Greek authorities send him to Kenya, where he is sheltered in the Greek embassy compound in Nairobi.
Feb. 4, 1999: Ankara receives information that Ocalan is in Kenya. The green light is given for an abduction operation.
Feb. 12, 1999: Greeks receive information that Ocalan must be removed from the Greek diplomatic premises. They fear his location is widely known. Discussions begin to take him to a neighboring country or a Greek Orthodox Church in Kenya.
Feb. 14, 1999: Kenyan security forces surround the Greek Embassy and ambassador's residence in Nairobi.
Feb. 15, 1999: Ocalan is taken out from the Greek Embassy and ends up in the hands of Turkish commandos.
Feb. 16, 1999: In the early
hours of the day Ocalan is back in Turkey after 20 years.
