Erdogan: No house arrest for Ocalan

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DAKAR, Senegal, Jan. 11 (UPI) -- Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said he will not reduce Kurdistan Workers Party leader Abdullah Ocalan's life sentence in prison to house arrest.

"House arrest for Ocalan is not a question," Erdogan told a news conference Thursday in Senegal. "Everything is so clear on this subject."

Ocalan was captured in 1999 and sentenced to death, but the sentence was commuted when Turkey abolished the death penalty and he was sentenced to aggravated life imprisonment. He was the sole prisoner on Imrali island from 1999 to 2009.

Discussions between state officials and Ocalan to broker a deal for disarming the PKK have been continuing even though Erdogan said he opposes Ocalan being placed under house arrest and granting general amnesty for terrorists, which are among the talking points, Sunday's Zaman reported.

Erdogan has allowed a radio in Ocalan's cell to be replaced with a television set, Hurriyet reported Monday.