A Journalist: I Saw Apo In MIT, He Was An Office-Boy

Abdulmelik Firat, a former Democrat Party (DP) and True path Party (DYP) deputy, said that PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan had a connection with the intelligence agency, MIT. Firat said that journalist Avni Ozgurel had told him that he saw Ocalan in MIT and according to him the fact that PKK left Turkey prior to the coup in September 12 was related to this connection.Abdulmelik Firat, whose memoirs were documented by journalist Ferzende Kaya in the form of a book entitled “Mesopotamia Exile,” said, “The father of one of the wives of Ocalan was working for MIT. In the past Ocalan informed him about many things going on in the South East. This shows that MIT wanted to use him. In one occasion, Avni Ozgurel told me, “I went to a press conference of Ocalan in Bekaa. I was remembering the face of the man (Ocalan) but I could not recall where I saw him before. He grasped what I was thinking and approached me and told me not to say anything until he does. Then I understood that I saw him in MIT. We were going there for assistance, when we were students. He was also there.””Ozgurel confirmed that he saw Ocalan in MIT building and he was working as an office-boy there. Ozgurel also said that Ocalan had never denied his rightist past. Another interesting point is that it was only PKK, which, as an organization, succeeded to survive the September 12 coup. Because the administrators of the organization decided to leave Turkey and organize in Lebanon and Syria in 1979. There are many speculations on this issue. There is word that Ocalan was informed about the approaching coup beforehand.�