According to the lead story from Milliyet, three separate meetings were held in 1999 to discuss the future of Öcalan, which were attended by the National Security Council (MGK), the Prime Ministry, the Foreign Ministry, the General Staff, the National Intelligence Organization (MİT) and the Security General Directorate. The meetings were held on June 3, July 2 and Oct. 7 of 1999.
Öcalan was captured in Kenya on Feb. 15, 1999, while being transferred from the Greek Embassy to Nairobi International Airport, in an operation conducted by MİT. Since his capture, Öcalan has been held in solitary confinement as the only prisoner on İmrali Island in Turkey's Marmara Sea.
The three meetings were scene to the discussion of all possibilities related to the future of the terrorist leader, including his execution. Participants in the meetings also discussed whether Öcalan could contribute to Turkey's fight against terror and the terrorist PKK. The meetings in addition witnessed heated debates over flaws in the interrogation and trial of Öcalan.
While MİT officials cautioned other participants in the meetings that Öcalan was divulging the names of PKK members he wished to sideline in the organization during the interrogations, representatives of the Security General Directorate complained that they were granted only four days to interrogate the terrorist leader.
The General Staff focused on a different topic during the meetings and expressed its uneasiness over the possibility of Öcalan's release some day with a general amnesty. According to the minutes of the meeting on June 3, a MİT official said Greece, Iran, Germany and Syria were highly disturbed that Öcalan would tell Turkish authorities about the aid of those countries to the outlawed PKK. “The more information we can get on financial aid flowing to the PKK from foreign countries, the more successful we can be in preventing the terrorist group from turning into a political group,” noted the official.
