Costas Simitis: The crisis in Imia and the Ocalan case – The almost Greek-Turkish war and thriller with the Kurdish leader

In January 1996 he is Prime Minister of a few days when one of the first major trials of his total eight-year term breaks out. The reason is for the crisis in the situation that brought Greece and Turkey to the brink of war. CORVERSE Two and a half years after the crisis in Imia, Prime Minister Costas Simitis was faced with another very serious crisis, that of Greece’s involvement in the international thriller starring Kurdish leader Abdullah Otsalan, who has been held in Turkish prisons since 1998. Returning to the Greek-Turkish crisis in Imia, it breaks out when a ship stormed the rocky islands, with Turkey questioning Greek sovereignty in the region. Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Simitis government then was Theodore Pangalos, Minister of National Defence Gerasimos Arsenis and Chief of General Staff Admiral Christos Lyberis. CORVERSE The episode was de-escalated with US mediation, but gave Turkey the opportunity to raise a “Grison Zones” issue, leaving open wounds to the relationship between the two countries. Kostas Simitis’ characteristic phrase thanks to the then United States government for mediation, which caused reactions within our country. Much has been written about the crisis of the Imians and the “grey zones” and more will be written. What is certain is that in the crucial issues of Cyprus, Greek-Turkish relations and Greece’s position in the Balkans, Simitis period proved that even a small country, with an organized plan and flexible tactics, may not only promote its interests but also play an essential role in solving international problems. From Imia to Abdullah Ocalan On 21 September 1998 Turkey’s leader of Kurds, Abdullah Ocalan left Syria in an unknown direction, following the pressures exerted by Americans and Turks in Damascus to stop providing support to the PKK (Kurdistan Workers’ Party) and its leader. From there begins a wandering, which ends, almost five months later, in his tradition and capture by the Turks. Greece’s engagement On 9 October 1998 a Syrian Airlines aircraft lands at the International Airport of Greek from Damascus. His passengers, and most notably one of them, Ocalan cause trouble to the Greek government. Prime Minister Costas Simitis categorically refuses to accept him. Thus, the Kurdish leader’s aircraft is refueled and leaving for Moscow. On 12 October 1998 the leader of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party departed Moscow for Rome, after many secret negotiations have been held with many European countries refusing to accept him. Eventually he does not remain in Rome, but his tracks have been lost for almost a month. The indications, according to the media, converge to the conclusion that he remains hidden in Armenia and Russia. On November 12 Ocalan lands at Rome Airport, Fiumicino and is arrested, by the Italian Police. First announced his arrest by Foreign Minister Lamberto Dini, as wanted for violations of International Law, while at the same time in Rome and other cities thousands of Kurds protest for their leader. Turkey is now directly threatening Italy with a diplomatic incident and calling for its extradition, accusing him of killing 30,000 civilians. Four days later, on 16 November, a diplomatic crisis broke out between Italy and Turkey, while Prime Minister Massimo D’Alema initially appears determined not to yield to pressure and makes a harsh statement against Turkish interference. On 20 November Ocalan, who until then is under house arrest in Rome, may now be released, as the Italian authorities rejected Turkey’s request for extradition, on the grounds that the Italian Constitution prohibits extradition of persons to a country that still applies the death penalty. The tension between Italy and Turkey peaks. On 22 November the Turkish government directly threatens by boycotting Italian products unless Ocalan is delivered to Turkey. The President of the European Commission, Jacques Santer, reacts to the Turkish statements and on 24 November 1998 threatens the Turks with retaliation if there is a boycott on Italian products. Germany is calling for unity. Finally the tension is defusing, Ocalan gives some interviews, in which he leaves spikes for the stance of the Greek government. From there on the movements of the Kurdish politician covers a veil of mystery. No one knows where he is or whether he remains in Italy, until January 15, the day when he leaves the Italian capital in an unknown direction. A lot is heard about his visit to Russia, Greece, Armenia and elsewhere. On 29 January retired captain P.N. Antonis Naxakis, according to his own confession, takes the initiative to transfer Otsalan and his comrades to Greece on a private jet aircraft from Minsk, Belarus. Naxakis alerts the then Foreign Minister, Theodore Pangalo, informs in retrospect (i.e. after Otsalan’s illegal arrival in the country) and then hides the Kurdish leader in his home, after he is previously hosted for one night at the house of the author – poet, Voula Damianakos, in Nea Makri. On 31 January a new Odyssey begins for the Kurdish leader. The plane carrying him wanders around the European capitals again, requesting permission to land from various countries, which he does not take. The Netherlands is sending him away, so is Switzerland. From Minsk he returns to Greece to eventually be taken to Kenya. On February 2, 1999 Abdullah Ocalan is in Kenya and hides in the residence of the Greek ambassador, George Kostoula, along with his companions. He is also accompanied by the Greek major of I.A.P. Savvas Kalederidis as his bodyguard. On the same day the Ankara Government calls on the ambassadors of Sweden, Norway and Belgium and asks them not to accept Ocalan, who at that time is unknown where he is. On 13 February, in Kenya, arrives the Greek lawyer of Ocalan, Phaelos Kranidiotis, who discusses with the Kurdish leader and the Greek ambassador and returns to Europe to seek help. Ocalan is considering surrendering to The Hague International Court. The early morning hours of February 16th find the Kurdish leader handcuffed by Turkish MIT agents in Turkey with a private aircraft. Everything that happened concerning his arrest remains unknown. Ankara celebrates and the media release videos of its transfer. Resignations of Greek ministers Ocalan was transferred, with the approval of Theodore Pangalos, to the Greek embassy in Kenya and was accompanied by the officer of the EYP, Savva Kalederidis, who later accepted oral orders of disputed origin to remove him from the embassy. It has been claimed that the orders came from Theodore Pagalos, although he denied it himself. Theodoros Pangalos also provided assurances to the Greek ambassador in Kenya that he had secured a passage for Ocalan to the Netherlands in collaboration with the Kenyan authorities, but they received the Kurdish leader from the Greek embassy and led him in an unknown direction, in an operation orchestrated secretly by MIT with the help of the CIA. Foreign Minister Theodoros Pangalos was criticised for the fact that no guarantees were secured by Kenyans for Ocalan’s safe transfer to the Netherlands, but he was justified by saying that he was away three days from Athens and was not following the case. After Ocalan was arrested by the Turkish secret services, a political crisis was caused in Greece that led to the resignation of three ministers of Kostas Simitis’ government, including Theodore Pangalos, who was then considered politically responsible for the negative development of the case. The other two were, the Minister of Interior, Public Administration and Decentralization, Alekos Papadopoulos and the Minister of Public Order, Philip Petsalnikos. In conclusion, the Prime Minister’s term of Simitis was, in any case, tumultuous. He faced a series of challenges with great success, but he did not avoid mistakes that the next governments found before them.