Ocalan's Execution On Hold

The Turkish government Wednesday decided to put a hold on the death sentence of Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan until a European court can review it.

Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit's government agreed to wait for the European Court of Human Rights to review Ocalan's appeal before sending it to Turkey's parliament for approval.

The government made the move after winning the support of the far-right Nationalist Action Party, which had pressed for Ocalan's hanging.

Ecevit warned that the hold on the execution can be lifted at any time.

"If the rebel organization and its supporters attempt to use this process against the high interests of the state, then the process of delaying will be halted and the process of execution will be started immediately," Ecevit said.

Ecevit's warning was an apparent attempt to appease his nationalist coalition partner and the relatives of thousands of people who died fighting the autonomy-seeking rebels in the southeast.

Prior to a meeting Wednesday of governing coalition leaders, speculation had risen that Ocalan's death sentence could lead to a breakup in Ecevit's government if the far-right party had insisted on sending the sentence to parliament for approval.

Ecevit had warned that failing to comply with the European court's request that the sentence be delayed pending appeal would seriously damage Turkey's recently improved relations with the European Union.

Parliament will get the case after the court reviews the appeal, Ecevit said. The review could take up to two years.

However, Ecevit said the death sentence, handed down by a Turkish court in June, cannot be overruled.

The nationalists came to power on a promise to execute Ocalan and are under pressure from their supporters to send the Kurdish rebel's case to parliament.

Ecevit fears that hanging Ocalan could anger the Kurdish rebel group and revive violence in southeastern Turkey. There has been a relative lull in fighting in the mainly Kurdish southeast since Ocalan's rebels announced a cease-fire in August.

"The execution would cause more tension in Turkey and would not be good for Turkey's society and industry," Wolfgang Peukart, an official of the European court, said at a meeting in Ankara.

Wednesday, hundreds of nationalists gathered in Ankara at the funeral of soldiers killed in clashes with rebels Sunday.

They booed President Suleyman Demirel who favors waiting for the court's ruling calling him a "traitor."

"Do not bargain on the blood of our martyrs," they shouted before marching in downtown Ankara, where they called on the government to resign.

On Tuesday, 37 elected mayors of Turkey's only legal political Kurdish movement, the People's Democracy Party, urged the leaders not to hang Ocalan.

Turkey has not executed anyone since 1984.

European Union countries have all abolished the death penalt and are urging Turkey to do the same.