The Turkish President, Suleyman Demirel, has appealed to Russia not to give political asylum to the fugitive Kurdish rebel leader, Abdullah Ocalan.

Mr Demirel was responding to a motion passed almost unanimously by the lower house of the Russian parliament, the Duma, that asked President Yeltsin to offer Mr Ocalan asylum.

Turkey says he is in Russia and has asked for him to be extradited, saying that as leader of the separatist Kurdish group, the PKK, he should stand trial for terrorist crimes.

The Russian authorities say they have so far found no trace of Mr Ocalan in Russia.

In a statement released by the Duma, Mr Ocalan confirmed he had left his long-time base in Syria but did not say where he had gone.