Publication

On 12 November 1998, Abdullah Öcalan, political and military head of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), was arrested by Italian authorities upon entry into the country. The following day, the Kurdish leader filed a request for political asylum. This was the beginning of an unexpected – as well as risky and difficult – crisis, which is worth examining as an example of the workings of the Italian foreign pol- icy decision-making process and for its implications on European-Turkish relations.