Turkish President Suleyman Demirel spoke out in favour...

Turkish President Suleyman Demirel spoke out in favour of waiting for a ruling from the European Court of Human Rights on the death sentence given to PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan before taking any action. "We had better await the European Court of Human Rights' (ECHR) decision for execution of capital punishment given to Ocalan. We should not do anything that can damage Turkey on the threshold of the 21st century," he said in a television address. "Carrying out capital punishment is dependent on the parliament's approval. The parliament has not been approving any execution of capital punishment for 15 years. But there is a different dimension of Ocalan affair. We have been accepted as a candidate to the European Union. We should integrate with Europe to this end. Although Turkey did not sign the Article to lift the death sentence, it has accepted to agree with the ECHR's decisions," he said.