Ömer Öcalan (born 1987) is a politician of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) and a current member of the

Grand National Assembly of Turkey The Grand National Assembly of Turkey ( tr, ), usually referred to simply as the TBMM or Parliament ( tr, or ''Parlamento''), is the unicameral Turkish legislature. It is the sole body given the legislative prerogatives by the Turkish Consti ...

Early life and education

He was born in 1987 in Halfeti,

Şanlıurfa Urfa, officially known as Şanlıurfa () and in ancient times as Edessa, is a city in southeastern Turkey and the capital of Şanlıurfa Province. Urfa is situated on a plain about 80 km east of the Euphrates River. Its climate features ext ...

, as a son of Mehmet and Fehime Öcalan. His uncle is

Abdullah Öcalan Abdullah Öcalan ( ; ; born 4 April 1949), also known as Apo (short for Abdullah in Turkish and Kurdish for "uncle"), is a political prisoner and founding member of the militant Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). Öcalan was based in Syria from ...

, the founder of the

Kurdistan Workers' Party The Kurdistan Workers' Party or PKK is a Kurdish militant political organization and armed guerrilla movement, which historically operated throughout Kurdistan, but is now primarily based in the mountainous Kurdish-majority regions of south ...

(PKK). He spent a large part of his youth in

Adana Adana (; ; ) is a major city in southern Turkey. It is situated on the Seyhan River, inland from the Mediterranean Sea. The administrative seat of Adana Province, Adana province, it has a population of 2.26 million. Adana lies in the heart ...

, where he graduated from high school. It was at this time he was detained to first time for a short while. After his release he studied journalism at

Ankara University Ankara University ( tr, Ankara Üniversitesi) is a public university in Ankara, the capital city of Turkey. It was the first higher education institution founded in Turkey after the formation of the republic in 1923. The university has 40 vocat ...

. In 2012 he wanted to study politics at the

University of Lausanne The University of Lausanne (UNIL; french: links=no, Université de Lausanne) in Lausanne, Switzerland was founded in 1537 as a school of Protestant theology, before being made a university in 1890. The university is the second oldest in Switzer ...

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

, but had to abandon due to economic reasons.

Political career

As he returned from Lausanne, he settled in Mardin, where his wife worked at the Municipality. In 2014 he assumed as the co-chair of the Democratic Regions Party (BDP) in

Mardin Mardin ( ku, Mêrdîn; ar, ماردين; syr, ܡܪܕܝܢ, Merdīn; hy, Մարդին) is a city in southeastern Turkey. The capital of Mardin Province, it is known for the Artuqid architecture of its old city, and for its strategic location on ...

, a post he held until 2016. During his tenure, he was arrested with another five in April 2016, due to an investigation on terror related charges. He was released a few months later in June of the same year. In the parliamentary elections of June 2018 he was elected to parliament for the HDP representing Sanilurfa. On the 17 March 2021, the Turkish state prosecutor before the Court of Cassation Bekir Şahin filed a lawsuit before the Constitutional Court demanding for him and 686 other HDP politicians a five-year ban for political activities. The lawsuit was filed together with the request for a closure of the HDP due to their politicians alleged participation in terrorist activities.

Views

As a deputy he opposed the implementation of a law implemented to lower the risk of contagion with

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

in prisons, which released many prisoners but excluded the HDP politicians. According to him, Kurdish politicians are imprisoned for speaking about "democracy, equality, peace and freedoms". He took part in the protests against the dismissal of the HDP mayors in the south eastern part of

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

, which were replaced by state appointed acting mayors.

Personal life

Due to being Abdullah Öcalan's nephew, he was not allowed to visit his relatives in Ömerli, the birth place of Abdullah on 4 April 2018, the birthday of his uncle. Ömer Öcalan is married and has two children.

References

{{Authority control Democratic Regions Party politicians 1987 births Turkish Kurdish politicians Members of the 27th Parliament of Turkey Living people Öcalan family Peoples' Democratic Party (Turkey) politicians People from Halfeti