Yilmaz, whose minority government is on its last legs, voiced Turkish fury. Italy is attempting to make peace with terrorism. Every mistake made on this issue will certainly have a very heavy price. The prime minister earlier his week said Italy would be an accomplice to mass murder if it did not hand over Ocalan for a treason trial in Turkey. His comments upset the new centre-left coalition of Italian Prime Minister Massimo D'Alema.
Italian law forbids extraditing suspects to countries which, like Turkey, have the death penalty.
He called on supporters to respect democracy and the rule of law and abandon protests in Europe to secure his release. A Kurd died this week after setting himself on fire in Moscow to attract attention to Ocalan's detention. Bonn said on Friday it would for the time being refrain from seeking the extradition of Ocalan, wanted in Germany since 1990 for Kurdish militant attacks there, including an alleged murder. Turkey sees a German hand in a decision last year to keep it out of the EU's expansion plans for the mean time. Ankara has refused to talk politics to the bloc and has adopted a tougher foreign policy across the board.