Powerful ripples from the Turkish capture of Abdullah Ocalan, leader of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), continue to affect other European states. The most dramatic development has been in Greece, where three senior ministers were sacked for their role in it. Turkey's relations with its neighbours and its aspiration to join the European Union are emerging as central aspects of the affair. It was announced in Ankara that Mr Ocalan is to be tried for murder and treason in the State Security Court, which includes a military judge. And it became increasingly clear that Kurdish sympathisers of Mr Ocalan are determined to continue their campaign of protests, which could so easily take more violent forms.
Turkey's important and growing role as a regional power straddling Europe and the Middle East is underlined by the affair. Its strategic partnership with Israel has affected the regional balance of power and was a critical factor in Turkey's confrontation with Syria last year, which caused Mr Ocalan's departure from Damascus and prolonged search for another safe haven. Yesterday 10,000 Turkish troops continued their intervention in Iraq against Kurd targets. By capturing him, Turkey has inflicted an unprecedented humiliation on Greece, its long-standing antagonist. The extent of this damage is becoming clearer, as the German government criticised Greece for not communicating to it, as EU president, the fact that Mr Ocalan was in Greek hands. This failure could gravely affect its credibility in dealing with the Cypriot and Turkish issues in EU enlargement talks.
Mr Ocalan has appealed to the European Court of Human Rights, saying he will not receive a fair trial in Turkey. The charge of treason under Turkey's military-inspired 1982 constitution - which deals with the indivisible integrity of its state, nation and territory - certainly looks strange when directed against the leader of a rebel organisation demanding national rights for the Kurdish people. It is a classical case of a political charge disguised as a security one. Mr Ocalan's supporters fear he will be tortured while in custody; undoubtedly he has information deemed indispensable by Turkish intelligence forces. The decision to try him in the State Security Court is not reassuring either. It was also set up under that constitution and its military judge, one of three, comes under army discipline. The court has been severely criticised by Turkish and international lawyers, politicians and business interests. The Turkish government has so far ill-advisedly refused to allow international observers or lawyers to attend the trial.
Even in the middle of an election campaign and after the euphoria engendered by capturing Mr Ocalan, Turkey's political leaders need to pay close and careful attention to such criticisms. Ensuring he gets a fair trial and demonstrating that a political resolution of the Kurdish question is possible will go a long way to reassure European Union member-states that Turkey takes seriously the democratic commitments and obligations it must meet if it wants to join. This has been a crucial objective of its political elite as they preside over Turkey's political modernisation and economic transformation. It will be put very much to the test in coming weeks and months.