Lawyers for Abdullah Ocalan said yesterday they would seek an injunction at the European Court of Human Rights to forestall any move by Turkey to implement the death sentence passed on the Kurdish rebel leader.
In the big cities of western Turkey, including Istanbul, as well as in the mainly Kurdish south-east there were no real signs of any violent reaction to the death sentence imposed for Ocalan's role in a 14-year-old campaign that has cost 29,000 lives.
In the media, however, the delight was unmistakable. "Today is our holiday," said a headline in Sabah newspaper below a photograph showing relatives of soldiers killed fighting Kurdish rebels rejoicing at the verdict.
A hangman's noose hung down the page alongside a picture of Ocalan.
Foreign governments and international organisations continued to urge Turkey not to execute the Kurdish leader. The current EU president, Germany, said such a move could add to difficulties in Ankara's longstanding bid to join the 15-member bloc. Ocalan's lawyers also took formal moves to prevent any implementation of the sentence.
The European Court normally asks applicants first to exhaust appeal procedures in their home country before applying to it. But lawyers said their application would argue that the damage to Ocalan could be irreversible if they awaited completion of the domestic process.
"If there is the possibility of irreparable damage to the client, you have the right to apply to the European Court of Human Rights without waiting for an appeals court verdict," an Ocalan lawyer, Mr Kemal Bilgic, told a news conference.
He said they would apply to the Strasbourg-based court within the next few days, arguing Turkish authorities violated normal legal procedure at every step of the Ocalan case - from his dramatic capture in Kenya to his detention on an isolated jail island.
The guerrillas have fought on since his capture and warned on Tuesday after the verdict they would step up their campaign.
In the mainly-Kurdish south-east, Turkish troops killed 12 Kurdish rebels on Tuesday in the first fighting since the sentence was announced. No military casualties were reported. The PKK also launched a rocket attack overnight on state buildings in a small regional town, but missed the targets. No casualties were reported.
In Germany, where some two million Turkish citizens - many of ethnic Kurdish origin - live several Turkish restaurants and travel agencies were firebombed in an apparent response to the verdict. One person was injured in the attacks.
In the southern town of Sindlingen, five armed assailants stormed a Turkish culture club and attacked a group of about 10 Turkish men. One man was treated for knife and gunshot wounds.
The sentence for Ocalan automatically goes through an appeals process, followed by parliamentary ratification, that could last years.
The Turkish Appeals Court is expected to began considering the case in a few weeks but its ruling is not due before a summer break ends in early September.
"The PKK is pursuing a dualtrack strategy," said Mr Ernst Uhrlau, Chancellor Gerhard Schroder's security adviser.
"On the one side a peaceful, civil approach and on the other side violence against their enemies, the Turks," he said, adding that he expected further attacks under cover of darkness.
Among Germany's substantial Turkish population, there are about 500,000 Kurds, including up to 11,000 PKK members.
The Interior Minister, Mr Otto Schily, said he was "cautiously optimistic" Ocalan's sentence would not be carried out.
"We're talking with Turkey at a variety of levels and trying to use our influence to prevent the death penalty from being carried out," he told NDR radio. "There's no lack of effort on our part. "But one has to avoid the situation where there is too much pressure . . . It's important that Turkey understands that we are not intervening in their national integrity." But deputy foreign minister Mr Gunter Verheugen also reiterated a warning that Turkey's efforts to join the European Union would be dealt a setback if Ocalan were executed.