By Charlie Charalambous
WESTERN embassies in Cyprus have received extra protection following information that diplomats may be abducted by Kurdish activists loyal to captured guerilla leader Abdullah Ocalan.
The French, German and Italian embassies apparently requested extra security from the local authorities after receiving intelligence information about planned Kurdish attacks.
Justice Minister Nicos Koshis has reportedly ordered additional security measures to be introduced at the Israeli and US embassies as well.
“It is true that several embassies, including the French embassy, have asked for reinforced protection just in case,” a French embassy source told the Cyprus Mail yesterday.
The source added: “We have received information that the Kurds might abduct an ambassador and we were told (from Paris) to ask for increased protection from the Cyprus government.”
Concerns about embassy staff being kidnapped by militant Kurds – who want Ocalan freed from a Turkish prison – were conveyed to the Foreign Ministry, which then briefed Koshis on the situation.
As a result, the minister ordered the introduction of additional security measures to prevent any threatened Kurdish reprisals.
“When the police receive such information, it deals with it in the appropriate manner,” police spokesman Stelios Neophytou told the Cyprus Mail when asked about the abduction threats.
“Increased security measures have been in place since Ocalan’s capture and they remain in place at specific embassies,” said Neophytou.
It is believed the Italian, German and French diplomatic missions are being targeted, because those countries are have been blamed by Ocalan supporters for not providing the PKK leader with asylum when he was hounded across Europe by Turkey.
“The German embassy is aware of the dangers and the threats of such incidents worldwide and precautions have been taken,” said a German embassy source in Nicosia.
The Italian embassy confirmed to the Cyprus Mail that it had received special instructions from Rome for its staff to be extra vigilant, both on and off duty.
“Staff have been told to be careful because of the increased risk of abduction by Kurdish elements, who might find this a convenient way to pursue their interests in freeing Ocalan,” said an Italian embassy source.
Local security forces fear that the US and Israeli embassies are prime targets for Kurdish protestors because of the alleged involvement of their secret services – the CIA and Mossad – in Ocalan’s capture in Nairobi last month.
However, the US embassy said yesterday it would not comment on security matters. And the Israeli embassy said it was taking “all the necessary security measures”.
Despite the diplomatic and police concerns about security, Nicosia was one of the few European capitals to escape violent Kurdish demonstrations in the wake of Ocalan’s arrest.
