Kurds to chase goal peacefully

Abdullah Ocalan at his trial

ANKARA, Turkey -- The Kurdish rebel group the PKK is to abandon its violent struggle against Turkey and pursue a more legitimate political route, its leader has said.

Osman Ocalan said the PKK was aiming to transform itself into a new organisation that would peacefully call for greater Kurdish rights in Turkey as well as in Iran, Iraq and Syria.

"The new organisation will be different from the PKK, it will support and contribute to a solution of the Kurdish problem in all of the four countries," he said.

The new group has yet to choose a name, he added, despite newspaper reporters saying it will be called the "People's Freedom Party."

The PKK has carried out a violent campaign against Turkish troops during the past 15 years in which 37,000 people have died, mainly Kurds.

Ocalan has led the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, since his brother Abdullah's capture in Kenya and trial in 1999.

RESOURCES • PKK Profile  • Abdullah Ocalan

Osman Ocalan warned that the new group would abandon its new policy if the imprisoned Abdullah had the death penalty carried out against him. He said the execution would be a "cause for war."

He told The Associated Press by satellite telephone from a base in northern Iraq that the new group would not seek to break away from Turkey but would peacefully struggle for greater cultural and democratic rights for Kurds.

A new name for the political organisation will be decided at a party congress to be held in the coming months.

In Iraq, the group would seek to establish a Kurdish federation, he said. It would also lead a campaign for more democracy in Iran and Syria.

Turkey does not consider its estimated 12 million Kurds an official minority and outlaws the use of the Kurdish language in schools, official events and broadcasts other than music.

The government fears that giving in to Kurdish demands could break up the country along ethnic lines.

Abdullah Ocalan called a unilateral cease-fire soon after his sentencing, and violence diminished when most of his rebels withdrew to Iran and Iraq.

But Osman warned that if his brother is executed: "The fighting would be worse than before. I don't even want to think about it. The death toll would mount to hundreds of thousands."

Several politicians have said Abdullah Ocalan should be hanged before the country abolishes the death penalty to comply with the standards of the European Union, which Turkey is hoping to join.

Turkey, which has refused to negotiate with the rebels, has dismissed the group's attempts to change its image as a tactic to gain favour with the countries of the European Union.

The United States said a name change by the PKK would not enable it to escape penalties called for as an officially designated foreign terrorist organisation.

Under U.S. law, Americans cannot provide financial help to groups on the foreign terrorist organisation list. Members of such groups also are barred from entering the U.S..