Abdullah Öcalan ( ;
; born 4 April 1948 or 1949), also known as Apo
(short for Abdullah in
Turkish;
Kurdish for "uncle"), is a founding member of the militant
Kurdistan Workers' Party
The Kurdistan Workers' Party, or the PKK, isDespite the PKK's 12th Congress announcing plans for total organisational dissolution, the PKK has not yet been dissolved de facto or de jure. a Kurds, Kurdish militant political organization and armed ...
(PKK).
Öcalan was based in Syria from 1979 to 1998. He helped found the PKK in 1978, and led it into the
Kurdish–Turkish conflict in 1984. For most of his leadership, he was based in Syria, which provided
sanctuary
A sanctuary, in its original meaning, is a sacred space, sacred place, such as a shrine, protected by ecclesiastical immunity. By the use of such places as a haven, by extension the term has come to be used for any place of safety. This seconda ...
to the PKK until the late 1990s.
After being forced to leave Syria, Öcalan was abducted by the
Turkish National Intelligence Organization (MIT) in
Nairobi
Nairobi is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Kenya. The city lies in the south-central part of Kenya, at an elevation of . The name is derived from the Maasai language, Maasai phrase , which translates to 'place of cool waters', a ...
, Kenya in February 1999 and imprisoned on
İmralı island in Turkey, where after
a trial he was sentenced to death under Article 125 of the Turkish Penal Code, which concerns the formation of armed organizations. The sentence was commuted to aggravated life imprisonment when Turkey
abolished the death penalty. From 1999 until 2009, he was the sole prisoner in
İmralı prison in the
Sea of Marmara
The Sea of Marmara, also known as the Sea of Marmora or the Marmara Sea, is a small inland sea entirely within the borders of Turkey. It links the Black Sea and the Aegean Sea via the Bosporus and Dardanelles straits, separating Turkey's E ...
, where he is still held.
Öcalan has advocated for a political solution to the conflict since the
1993 Kurdistan Workers' Party ceasefire.
[Mag. Katharina Kirchmayer, ''The Case of the Isolation Regime of Abdullah Öcalan: A Violation of European Human Rights Law and Standards?'', GRIN Verlag, 2010]
p. 37
/ref> Öcalan's prison regime has oscillated between long periods of isolation during which he is allowed no contact with the outside world, and periods when he is permitted visits. He was also involved in negotiations with the Turkish government that led to a temporary Kurdish–Turkish peace process in 2013. In February 2025, he issued a statement from prison calling on the PKK to disarm and disband itself, after which the group's leadership declared a unilateral ceasefire.
From prison, Öcalan has published several books. Jineology, also known as the science of women, is a form of feminism
Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...
advocated by Öcalan and subsequently a fundamental tenet of the Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK). Öcalan's philosophy of democratic confederalism
Democratic confederalism (), also known as Kurdish communalism, Öcalanism, or Apoism, is a political concept theorized by Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Öcalan about a system of democratic self-organization with the features o ...
is applied in the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (DAANES), an autonomous polity
A polity is a group of people with a collective identity, who are organized by some form of political Institutionalisation, institutionalized social relations, and have a capacity to mobilize resources.
A polity can be any group of people org ...
formed in Syria in 2012.
Early life and education
Öcalan was born in Ömerli, a village in the Halfeti district of Şanlıurfa Province
Şanlıurfa Province (; ), also known as Urfa Province, is a Provinces of Turkey, province and Metropolitan municipalities in Turkey, metropolitan municipality in southeastern Turkey. The city of Şanlıurfa is the capital of the province which be ...
in southeastern Turkey. Ömerli had a diverse population of Kurds, Turks, and Armenians, who were all integrated among each other. Öcalan claimed that his father was Kurdish, while his mother was Turkmen. Öcalan's maternal grandmother was a known Turk. While some sources report his date of birth as 4 April 1949, no official birth records exist. He has claimed not to know exactly when he was born, estimating the year to be 1946 or 1947. He is the oldest of seven children. Öcalan's father was poor even by local standards, and he once said that there was "always fighting" and "an overwhelming unhappiness" in his family.
When asked about their ethnic origin, his younger brother Osman Öcalan stated that their paternal family was fully Kurdish, while their maternal family was of mixed Kurdish, Turkish, Arab, and Assyrian origins. While Abdullah Öcalan claimed that their mother was fully Turkmen, Osman Öcalan disputed it, stating that many Albanian and other Balkan migrants were imported to the region by the Ottomans and identified as Turks, although he did not fully dismiss the possibility of their mother being Turkish. When asked about their surname, Osman Öcalan stated that "öc" meant "revenge" in Turkish, and that after Ottoman Turkish authorities came to their village and demanded women, his paternal grandfather Hüseyin Ağa refused and began fighting the Ottomans, during which his younger brother Abdi Ağa was killed. After the death of Abdi Ağa, Hüseyin Ağa led more revenge attacks on the Ottomans and drove them away. The family was celebrated by other Kurds and known as "Mala Ocê" ("House of Revenge"). After the Surname Law, the surname was Turkified to "Öcalan", meaning "revengeful".
Abdullah Öcalan spoke only Kurdish until elementary school, which he attended in a neighboring village. After he began school, he learned Turkish and began assimilating. He was impacted by Turkish nationalist school curriculum and dreamed of joining the Turkish army
The Turkish Land Forces () is the main branch of the Turkish Armed Forces responsible for Army, land-based military operations. The army was formed on November 8, 1920, after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. Significant campaigns since the ...
when he grew up. He applied to a military high school for future commissioned officers, but had failed the admission exam. Rejected from the military high school, Öcalan enrolled in a vocational high school in Ankara
Ankara is the capital city of Turkey and List of national capitals by area, the largest capital by area in the world. Located in the Central Anatolia Region, central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5,290,822 in its urban center ( ...
() in 1966.[Marcus, Aliza (2009), pp. 17–18] During high school, he attended anti-communist meetings, and occasionally Pro-Kurdish meetings set up by left-wing circles. Öcalan did not think about his Kurdish identity in a political way until he was nearly 20 years old. Öcalan was also a very conservative Muslim in his youth and admired Necip Fazıl Kısakürek. After graduating in 1969, Öcalan began working at the Title Deeds Office of Diyarbakır
Diyarbakır is the largest Kurdish-majority city in Turkey. It is the administrative center of Diyarbakır Province.
Situated around a high plateau by the banks of the Tigris river on which stands the historic Diyarbakır Fortress, it is ...
. It was at this time his political affiliation began to reform. He was relocated one year later to Istanbul where he participated in the meetings of the Revolutionary Cultural Eastern Hearths (DDKO), a Kurdish organization. Later, he entered the Istanbul Law Faculty but after the first year transferred to Ankara University
Ankara University () is a public university, public research university in Ankara, the capital of Turkey. It was the first higher education institution founded in Turkey after the History of the Republic of Turkey, formation of the Turkish republ ...
to study political science.
According to a book by journalist Necdet Pekmezci, Öcalan's return to Ankara was facilitated by the state in order to divide the '' Dev-Genç'' (Revolutionary Youth Federation of Turkey), of which Öcalan was a member. President Süleyman Demirel
Sami Süleyman Gündoğdu Demirel (; 1 November 1924 – 17 June 2015) was a Turkish people, Turkish politician, engineer, and statesman who served as the List of Presidents of Turkey, 9th President of Turkey from 1993 to 2000. He previously serv ...
later regretted this decision, since the PKK was to become a much greater threat to the state than ''Dev-Genç''.
Öcalan was not able to graduate from Ankara University, as on 7 April 1972 he was arrested after participating in a rally against the killing of Mahir Çayan. He was charged with distributing the left-wing political magazine ''Şafak'' (published by Doğu Perinçek) and was held for seven months at the Mamak Prison. In November 1973, the Ankara Democratic Association of Higher Education, (''Ankara Demokratik Yüksek Öğrenim Demeği,'' ) was founded and shortly after he was elected to join its board. In the ADYÖD several students close to the political views of Hikmet Kıvılcımlı were active. In December 1974, ''ADYÖD'' was closed down. In 1975, together with Mazlum Doğan and , he published a political booklet which described the main aims for a ''Revolution in Kurdistan''. During meetings in Ankara between 1974 and 1975, Öcalan and others came to the conclusion that Kurdistan
Kurdistan (, ; ), or Greater Kurdistan, is a roughly defined geo- cultural region in West Asia wherein the Kurds form a prominent majority population and the Kurdish culture, languages, and national identity have historically been based. G ...
was a colony
A colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule, which rules the territory and its indigenous peoples separated from the foreign rulers, the colonizer, and their ''metropole'' (or "mother country"). This separated rule was often orga ...
and preparations ought to be made for a revolution. The group decided to disperse into the different towns in Turkish Kurdistan in order to set up a base of supporters for an armed revolution. At the beginning, this idea had only a few supporters, but following a journey Öcalan made through the cities of Ağrı, Batman
Batman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. Batman was created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on M ...
, Diyarbakır
Diyarbakır is the largest Kurdish-majority city in Turkey. It is the administrative center of Diyarbakır Province.
Situated around a high plateau by the banks of the Tigris river on which stands the historic Diyarbakır Fortress, it is ...
, Bingöl, Kars and Urfa in 1977, the group counted over 300 adherents and had organised about thirty armed militants.
The Kurdistan Workers' Party
In 1978, in the midst of the right- and left-wing conflicts which culminated in the 1980 Turkish coup d'état, Öcalan founded the Kurdistan Workers' Party
The Kurdistan Workers' Party, or the PKK, isDespite the PKK's 12th Congress announcing plans for total organisational dissolution, the PKK has not yet been dissolved de facto or de jure. a Kurds, Kurdish militant political organization and armed ...
(PKK). In July 1979 he fled to Syria.
Since its foundation, the party focused on ideological training. In 1987, Öcalan saw the success of the party as based on the application of Marxism-Leninism to the specific conditions of Kurdistan. Öcalan elaborated on the importance of ideology to the extent to where he condemned ''ideologylessness'' and equated ideology with religion which according to him had replaced the latter. "If you break the link between yourself and ideology you will beastialize," he told his followers. With the support of the Syrian Government, he established two training camps for the PKK in Lebanon where the Kurdish guerrillas should receive political and military training.
In 1984, the PKK initiated a campaign of armed conflict by attacking government forces[ ][ ] in order to create an independent Kurdish state. Öcalan attempted to unite the Kurdish liberation movements of the PKK and the one active against Saddam Hussein
Saddam Hussein (28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician and revolutionary who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 1979 until Saddam Hussein statue destruction, his overthrow in 2003 during the 2003 invasion of Ira ...
in Iraq. In negotiations between the Kurdistan Democratic Party
The Kurdistan Democratic Party (), usually abbreviated as KDP or PDK, is the ruling Political party, party in Iraqi Kurdistan and the senior partner in the Kurdistan Regional Government. It was founded in 1946 in Mahabad in Iranian Kurdistan. ...
(KDP) and the PKK, it was agreed that the latter was able to move freely in Iraqi Kurdistan
Iraqi Kurdistan or Southern Kurdistan () refers to the Kurds, Kurdish-populated part of northern Iraq. It is considered one of the four parts of Greater Kurdistan in West Asia, which also includes parts of southeastern Turkey (Northern Kurdist ...
. He also met twice with Masoud Barzani, the leader of the KDP in Damascus
Damascus ( , ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in the Levant region by population, largest city of Syria. It is the oldest capital in the world and, according to some, the fourth Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. Kno ...
, to resolve some minor issues they had once in 1984 and another time in 1985. But due to pressure from Turkey the cooperation remained timid. During an interview he gave to the Turkish Milliyet in 1988, he mentioned the goal wasn't to gain independence from Turkey at all costs, but remained firm on the issue of the Kurdish rights, and suggested that negotiations should take place for a federation to be established in Turkey. In 1988, he also met with Jalal Talabani of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) in Damascus, with which he signed an agreement and after some differences after the foundation of a Kurdish Government in Iraqi Kurdistan in 1992 he later had a better relationship.
In the early 1990s, interviews given to both Doğu Perinçek and Hasan Bildirici he mentioned his willingness to achieve a peaceful solution to the conflict. In another given to Oral Çalışlar, he emphasized the difference between independence and separatism. He articulated the view that different nations were able to live in independence within the same state if they had equal rights. Then in 1993, upon request of Turkish president Turgut Özal, Öcalan met with Jalal Talabani for negotiations following which Öcalan declared a unilateral cease fire which had a duration from 20 March to 15 April. Later he prolonged it in order to enable negotiations with the Turkish government. Soon after Özal died on 17 April 1993, the initiative was halted by Turkey on the grounds that Turkey did not negotiate with terrorists. During an International Kurdish Conference in Brussels
Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...
in March 1994, his initiative for equal rights for Kurds and Turks within Turkey was discussed.[Stein, Gottfried (1994), p. 69] It is reported by Gottfried Stein, that at least during the first half of the 1990s, he used to live mainly in a protected neighborhood in Damascus. On 7 May 1996, in the midst of another unilateral cease-fire declared by the PKK, an attempt to assassinate him in a house in Damascus, was unsuccessful.
Following the protests which arose against the prohibition of the PKK in Germany, Öcalan had several meetings with politicians from Germany who came to hold talks with him. In the summer of 1995 the president of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (Verfassungsschutz) Klaus Grünewald came to visit him, And with the German MP Heinrich Lummer of the Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU) he held meetings in October 1995 in Damascus
Damascus ( , ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in the Levant region by population, largest city of Syria. It is the oldest capital in the world and, according to some, the fourth Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. Kno ...
and March 1996, during which they discussed the PKK's activities in Germany. Öcalan assured him that the PKK would support a peaceful solution for the conflict. Back in Germany, Lummer made a statement in support for further negotiations with Öcalan.[Özcan, Ali Kemal (2006), p. 206] With time, the United States (1997),[ ] European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...
, Syria
Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...
, Turkey, and other countries have included the PKK on their lists of terrorist organizations. A Greek parliamentary delegation from the PASOK came to visit him in the Beqaa valley on 17 October 1996. During his stay in Syria he has published several books concerning the Kurdish revolution. On at least one occasion, in 1993, he was detained and held by Syria's General Intelligence Directorate, but later released. Until 1998, Öcalan was based in Syria. As the situation deteriorated in Turkey, the Turkish government openly threatened Syria over its support for the PKK. As a result, the Syrian government forced Öcalan to leave the country but still refused turning him over to the Turkish authorities. In October 1998, Öcalan prepared for his departure from Syria and during a meeting in Kobane, he unsuccessfully attempted to lay the foundations for a new party which failed due to Syrian intelligence's obstruction.
Exile in Europe
Öcalan left Syria on 9 October 1998 and for the next four months, he toured several European countries advocating for a solution of the Kurdish-Turkish conflict. Öcalan first went to Russia where the Russian parliament voted on 4 November 1998 to grant him asylum. On 6 November 109 Greek parliamentarians invited Öcalan to stay in Greece, a move which was repeated by , the deputy speaker of the Greek Parliament at the time. Öcalan then chose to travel to Italy
Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
, where he landed on 12 November 1998 at the airport
An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial Aviation, air transport. They usually consist of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surf ...
in Rome
Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...
.
In 1998 the Turkish government requested the extradition of Öcalan from Italy, where he applied for political asylum upon his arrival. He was detained by the Italian authorities due to an arrest warrant issued by Germany. But Italy did not extradite him to Germany, who refused to hold a trial on Öcalan in its country. The German chancellor Gerhard Schröder
Gerhard Fritz Kurt Schröder (; born 7 April 1944) is a German former politician and Lobbying, lobbyist who served as Chancellor of Germany from 1998 to 2005. From 1999 to 2004, he was also the Leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (S ...
as well as the Minister of the Interior Otto Schily preferred that Öcalan would be tried by an unspecified "European Court". Italy also didn't extradite him to Turkey. The Italian prime minister Massimo D'Alema announced it was contrary to Italian law to extradite someone to a country where the defendant is threatened with a capital punishment. But Italy also didn't want Öcalan to stay, and pulled several diplomatic strings to compel him to leave the country, which was accomplished on 16 January when he departed to Nizhny Novgorod
Nizhny Novgorod ( ; rus, links=no, Нижний Новгород, a=Ru-Nizhny Novgorod.ogg, p=ˈnʲiʐnʲɪj ˈnovɡərət, t=Lower Newtown; colloquially shortened to Nizhny) is a city and the administrative centre of Nizhny Novgorod Oblast an ...
in hope to find a safe haven in Russia. But in Russia he was not as much welcomed as in October, and he had to wait for a week at the airport of Strigino International Airport in Nizhny Novgorod. From Russia, he took an airplane from Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...
to Greece where he arrived in Athens
Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...
upon the invitation of Nikolas Naxakis, a retired Admiral on 29 January 1999. He spent the night as a guest of the popular Greek author Voula Damianakou in Nea Makri.
Following this, Öcalan attempted to travel to The Hague
The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...
, to pursue a settlement of his legal situation at the International Criminal Court
The International Criminal Court (ICC) is an intergovernmental organization and International court, international tribunal seated in The Hague, Netherlands. It is the first and only permanent international court with jurisdiction to prosecute ...
, but the Netherlands
, Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...
would not let his plane land and sent him back to Greece where he landed on the island Corfu
Corfu ( , ) or Kerkyra (, ) is a Greece, Greek island in the Ionian Sea, of the Ionian Islands; including its Greek islands, small satellite islands, it forms the margin of Greece's northwestern frontier. The island is part of the Corfu (regio ...
in the Ionean Sea. Öcalan then decided to fly to Nairobi
Nairobi is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Kenya. The city lies in the south-central part of Kenya, at an elevation of . The name is derived from the Maasai language, Maasai phrase , which translates to 'place of cool waters', a ...
at the invitation of Greek diplomats. At that time he was defended by Britta Böhler, a high-profile German attorney who argued that the crimes he was accused of would have to be proven in court and attempted to reach that the International Court in The Hague
The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...
would assume the case.
Abduction, trial, and imprisonment
Öcalan was abducted in Kenya on 15 February 1999, while on his way from the Greek embassy to Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi, in an operation by the Turkish National Intelligence Organization ( '','' MIT) with the help of the CIA. According to the Turkish newspaper '' Vatan'', the Americans transferred him to the Turkish authorities, who flew him back to Turkey for trial.
Following his capture, the Greek Government was in turmoil and Foreign Minister Theodoros Pangalos, Interior Minister Alekos Papadopoulos and the Minister of Public Order Philipos Petsalnikos resigned from their posts. Costoulas, the Greek ambassador who protected him, said that his own life was in danger after the operation. According to Nucan Derya, Öcalan's interpreter in Kenya
Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...
, the Kenyans had warned the Greek ambassador that "something" might happen if he didn't leave four days prior and that they were given the assurance by Pangalos that Öcalan would have safe passage to Europe. Öcalan was determined to travel to Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...
and face the accusations of terrorism. Öcalan's capture led thousands of Kurds to hold worldwide protests condemning his capture at Greek and Israeli embassies. Kurds living in Germany were threatened with deportation if they continued to hold demonstrations in support of Öcalan. The warning came after three Kurds were killed and 16 injured during the 1999 attack on the Israeli consulate in Berlin.Yannis Kontos
Yannis Kontos () (born 1971) is a Greek documentary photographer, professor of photography and commercial photographer. He has covered major events for over a decade in more than 50 countries. His work has been published in newspapers, magazines, a ...
"Kurd Akar Sehard Azir, 33, sets himself on fire during a demonstration outside the Greek Parliament in Central Athens, Greece, on Monday, 15 February 1999"
, ''Photostory'', July 1999 A group named the ''Revenge Hawks of Apo'' set fire to a department store in Kadıköy
Kadıköy () is a municipality and Districts of Turkey, district on the Asian side of Istanbul Province, Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its area is 25 km2, and its population is 467,919 (2023). It is a large and populous area in the Asian si ...
Istanbul, causing the death of 13 people. In several European capitals and larger cities as well as in Iraq, Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...
and also Turkey protests were organized against his capture.
Trial
He was brought to İmralı island, where he was interrogated for a period of 10 days without being allowed to see or speak to his lawyers. A state security court consisting of one military and two civilian judges was established on İmralı island to try Öcalan. A delegation of three Dutch lawyers who intended to defend him were not allowed to meet with their client and detained for questioning at the airport on the grounds that they acted as "PKK militants" and not lawyers; they were sent back to the Netherlands
, Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...
. On the seventh day a judge took part in the interrogations, and prepared a transcript of it. The trial began on 31 May 1999 on the İmralı island in the Sea of Marmara
The Sea of Marmara, also known as the Sea of Marmora or the Marmara Sea, is a small inland sea entirely within the borders of Turkey. It links the Black Sea and the Aegean Sea via the Bosporus and Dardanelles straits, separating Turkey's E ...
, and was organized by the Ankara State Security Court. During the trial, he was represented by the Asrın Law Office. His lawyers had difficulty in representing him adequately as they were allowed only two interviews per week of initially a duration of 20 minutes, and later 1 hour, of which several were cancelled due to "bad weather" or because the authorities didn't give the permission needed for them. Also his lawyers were unaware of what the charges might be, and received the formal indictment only after excerpts of it were already presented to the press. The trial was accompanied by arrests of scores of Kurdish politicians from the People's Democracy Party (HADEP). In mid-June 1999, the Grand National Assembly of Turkey
The Grand National Assembly of Turkey ( ), usually referred to simply as the GNAT or TBMM, also referred to as , in Turkish, is the Unicameralism, unicameral Turkey, Turkish legislature. It is the sole body given the legislative prerogatives by ...
approved the removal of military judges from the State Security Courts, in an attempt to address criticism from the European Court of Human Rights
The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), also known as the Strasbourg Court, is an international court of the Council of Europe which interprets the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). The court hears applications alleging that a co ...
and a civilian judge assumed the post of the military judge. Shortly before the verdict was read out by Judge Turgut Okyay, when asked about his final remarks, he again offered to play a role in the peace finding process. Öcalan was charged with treason and separatism and sentenced to death on 29 June 1999. He was also banned from holding public office for life.
On the same day, Amnesty International
Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says that it has more than ten million members a ...
(AI) demanded a re-trial and Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Headquartered in New York City, the group investigates and reports on issues including War crime, war crimes, crim ...
(HRW) questioned the fact that witnesses brought by the defense were not heard in the trial. In 1999 the Turkish Parliament discussed a so-called Repentance Bill which would commute Öcalans death sentence to 20 years imprisonment and allow PKK militants to surrender with a limited amnesty, but it didn't pass due to resistance from the far-right around the Nationalist Movement Party
The Nationalist Movement Party, or alternatively translated as Nationalist Action Party (, MHP), is a Turkish Far-right politics, far-right, ultranationalism, ultranationalist Political parties in Turkey, political party. The group is often de ...
(MHP). In January 2000 the Turkish government declared the death sentence was delayed until the European Court of Human Rights
The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), also known as the Strasbourg Court, is an international court of the Council of Europe which interprets the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). The court hears applications alleging that a co ...
(ECHR) reviewed the verdict. Upon the abolition of the death penalty in Turkey in August 2002, in October of that year, the security court commuted his sentence to life imprisonment
Life imprisonment is any sentence (law), sentence of imprisonment under which the convicted individual is to remain incarcerated for the rest of their natural life (or until pardoned or commuted to a fixed term). Crimes that result in life impr ...
.
In an attempt to reach a verdict which was more favorable to Öcalan, he appealed at the ECHR at Strasbourg
Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...
, which accepted the case in June 2004. In 2005, the ECHR ruled that Turkey had violated articles 3, 5, and 6 of the European Convention of Human Rights by refusing to allow Öcalan to appeal his arrest and by sentencing him to death without a fair trial. Öcalan's request for a retrial was refused by Turkish courts.
Detention conditions
After his capture, Öcalan was held in solitary confinement as the only prisoner on İmralı island in the Sea of Marmara
The Sea of Marmara, also known as the Sea of Marmora or the Marmara Sea, is a small inland sea entirely within the borders of Turkey. It links the Black Sea and the Aegean Sea via the Bosporus and Dardanelles straits, separating Turkey's E ...
. Following the commutation of the death sentence to a life sentence in 2002, Öcalan remained imprisoned on İmralı, and was the sole inmate there. Although former prisoners at İmralı were transferred to other prisons, more than 1,000 Turkish military personnel were stationed on the island to guard him. In November 2009, Turkish authorities announced that they were ending his solitary confinement by transferring several other prisoners to İmralı. They said that Öcalan would be allowed to see them for ten hours a week. The new prison was built after the Council of Europe's Committee for the Prevention of Torture visited the island and objected to the conditions in which he was being held. From 27 July 2011 until 2 May 2019 his lawyers have not been allowed to see Abdullah Öcalan. From July 2011 until December 2017 his lawyers filed more than 700 appeals for visits, but all were rejected.
There have been held regular demonstrations by the Kurdish community to raise awareness of the isolation of Öcalan. In October 2012 several hundred Kurdish political prisoners went on hunger strike for better detention conditions for Öcalan and the right to use the Kurdish language in education and jurisprudence. The hunger strike lasted 68 days until Öcalan demanded its end. Öcalan was banned from receiving visits almost two years from 6 October 2014 until 11 September 2016, when his brother Mehmet Öcalan visited him for Eid al-Adha. In 2014 the ECHR ruled in that there was a violation of article 3 in regards of him being to only prisoner on İmarli island until 17 November 2009, as well as the impossibility to appeal his verdict. On 6 September 2018 visits from lawyers were banned for six months due to former punishments he received in the years 2005–2009, the fact that the lawyers made their conversations with Ocalan public, and the impression that Öcalan was leading the PKK through communications with his lawyers. He was again banned from receiving visits until 12 January 2019 when his brother was permitted to visit him a second time. His brother said his health was good. The ban on the visitation of his lawyers was lifted in April 2019, and Öcalan saw his lawyers on 2 May 2019.
On 27 February 2025, Öcalan issued a message from prison calling for the PKK to hold a congress dissolving itself and lay down its weapons. In response, the PKK announced that it had begun a ceasefire on 1 March.
Legal prosecution of sympathizers of Abdullah Öcalan
In 2008, the Justice Minister of Turkey, Mehmet Ali Şahin, said that between 2006 and 2007, 949 people were convicted and more than 7,000 people prosecuted for calling Öcalan "esteemed" (''Sayın'').
The Kurdish people
Involvement in peace initiatives
In November 1998, Öcalan elaborated on a 7-point peace plan according to which the Turkish attacks on Kurdish villages should stop, the refugees would be allowed to return, the Kurdish people would be granted autonomy within Turkey, the Kurds would receive the equal democratic rights as the Turks and the Turkish government supported village guards system shall come to an end and the Kurdish language and culture was to be officially recognized.[Abdullah Öcalan proposes 7-point peace plan](_blank)
Kurdistan Informatie Centrum Nederland In January 1999 during his stay in Europe, Öcalan saw the parties liberation struggle focus to have developed from guerrilla warfare to dialogue and negotiations.[Interview with Abdullah Ocalan "Our First Priority Is Diplomacy"](_blank)
''Middle East Insight'' magazine, January 1999 After his capture Öcalan called for a halt in PKK attacks, and advocated for a peaceful solution for the Kurdish conflict inside the borders of Turkey.
''The Middle East'' magazine, February 2000[van Bruinessen, Martin]
Turkey, Europe and the Kurds after the capture of Abdullah Öcalan
1999 In October 1999, eight PKK militants around the former European PKK spokesman Ali Sapan turned themselves in to Turkey on request of Öcalan. Depending on their treatment, the other PKK militants would turn themselves in as well, his attorney announced. But the eight, as well as another group which surrendered a few weeks later in Istanbul, were imprisoned and the peace initiative was dismissed by the Turkish Government. Öcalan called for the foundation of a "Truth and Justice Commission" by Kurdish institutions in order to investigate war crime
A war crime is a violation of the laws of war that gives rise to individual criminal responsibility for actions by combatants in action, such as intentionally killing civilians or intentionally killing prisoners of war, torture, taking hostage ...
s committed by both the PKK and Turkish security forces. A similar structure began functioning in May 2006.[Öldürülen imam ve 10 korucunun itibarı iade edildi](_blank)
, ANF News Agency, 30 May 2006. In March 2005, Öcalan issued the ''Declaration of Democratic confederalism in Kurdistan'' calling for a border-free confederation between the Kurdish regions of Southeastern Turkey (called "Northern Kurdistan
Turkish Kurdistan or Northern Kurdistan () is the southeastern part of Turkey where Kurds form the predominant ethnic group. The Kurdish Institute of Paris estimates that there are 20 million Kurds living in Turkey, the majority of them in the ...
" by Kurds[PKK Program (1995)](_blank)
Kurdish Library, 24 January 1995), Northeast Syria (" Western Kurdistan"), Northern Iraq (" South Kurdistan"), and Northwestern Iran (" East Kurdistan"). In this zone, three bodies of law would be implemented: EU law, Turkish/Syrian/Iraqi/Iranian law and Kurdish law. This proposal was adopted by the PKK programme following the "Refoundation Congress" in April 2005.[PKK Yeniden İnşa Bildirgesi](_blank)
PKK web site, 20 April 2005
Öcalan had his lawyer Ibrahim Bilmez[Kurdish leader calls for cease-fire]
NewsFlash release a statement on 28 September 2006 calling on the PKK to declare a ceasefire and seek peace with Turkey. Öcalan's statement said, "The PKK should not use weapons unless it is attacked with the aim of annihilation," and "it is very important to build a democratic union between Turks and Kurds. With this process, the way to democratic dialogue will be also opened".[Kurdish rebel boss in truce plea]
''BBC News
BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...
'' He worked on a solution for the Kurdish–Turkish conflict, which would include a decentralization and democratization of Turkey within the frame of the European Charter of local Self-Government, which was also signed by Turkey, but his 160-page proposal on the subject was confiscated by the Turkish authorities in August 2009.
On 31 May 2010, Öcalan said he was abandoning the ongoing dialogue with Turkey, as "this process is no longer meaningful or useful". Öcalan stated that Turkey had ignored his three protocols for negotiation: (a) his terms of health and security, (b) his release, and (c) a peaceful resolution to the Kurdish issue in Turkey. Though the Turkish government had received Öcalan's protocols, they were never released to the public. Öcalan said he would leave the top PKK commanders in charge of the conflict, but that this should not be misinterpreted as a call for the PKK to intensify its armed conflict with Turkey.
In January 2013, peace negotiations between the PKK and the Turkish Government were initiated and from between January and March he met several times with politicians of Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) on Imralı Island. On 21 March, Öcalan declared a ceasefire between the PKK and the Turkish state. Öcalan's statement was read to hundreds of thousands of Kurds in Diyarbakır who had gathered to celebrate the Kurdish New Year ('' Newroz''). The statement said in part, "Let guns be silenced and politics dominate... a new door is being opened from the process of armed conflict to democratization and democratic politics. It's not the end. It's the start of a new era." Soon after Öcalan's declaration, the functional head of the PKK, Murat Karayılan responded by promising to implement a ceasefire. During the peace process, the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) entered parliament during the parliamentarian election of June 2015. The ceasefire ended after in July 2015 two Turkish police officers were killed in Ceylanpinar.
Political ideological shift
Since his incarceration, Öcalan has significantly changed his ideology through exposure to Western social theorists such as Murray Bookchin, Immanuel Wallerstein and Hannah Arendt. Abandoning his old Marxism-Leninist and Stalinist beliefs, Öcalan fashioned his ideal society called democratic confederalism
Democratic confederalism (), also known as Kurdish communalism, Öcalanism, or Apoism, is a political concept theorized by Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Öcalan about a system of democratic self-organization with the features o ...
. In early 2004, Öcalan attempted to arrange a meeting with Murray Bookchin through Öcalan's lawyers, describing himself as Bookchin's "student" eager to adapt Bookchin's thought to Middle Eastern society. Bookchin was too ill to meet with Öcalan.
Democratic confederalism
Democratic confederalism
Democratic confederalism (), also known as Kurdish communalism, Öcalanism, or Apoism, is a political concept theorized by Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Öcalan about a system of democratic self-organization with the features o ...
is a "system of popularly elected administrative councils, allowing local communities to exercise autonomous control over their assets, while linking to other communities via a network of confederal councils."[Paul White, "Democratic Confederalism and the PKK's Feminist Transformation," in ''The PKK: Coming Down from the Mountains'' (London: Zed Books, 2015), pp. 126–149.] Decisions are made by communes in each neighborhood, village, or city. All are welcome to partake in the communal councils, but political participation is not mandated. There is no private property, but rather "ownership by use, which grants individuals usage rights to the buildings, land, and infrastructure, but not the right to sell and buy on the market or convert them to private enterprises". The economy is in the hands of the communal councils, and is thus (in the words of Bookchin) 'neither collectivised nor privatised - it is common.' Feminism
Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...
, ecology
Ecology () is the natural science of the relationships among living organisms and their Natural environment, environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community (ecology), community, ecosystem, and biosphere lev ...
, and direct democracy
Direct democracy or pure democracy is a form of democracy in which the Election#Electorate, electorate directly decides on policy initiatives, without legislator, elected representatives as proxies, as opposed to the representative democracy m ...
are essential in democratic confederalism.
With his 2005 "Declaration of Democratic Confederalism in Kurdistan", Öcalan advocated for a Kurdish implementation of Bookchin's '' The Ecology of Freedom'' via municipal assemblies as a democratic confederation of Kurdish communities beyond the state borders of Syria, Iran, Iraq, and Turkey. Öcalan promoted a platform of shared values: environmentalism, self-defense, gender equality, and a pluralistic tolerance for religion, politics, and culture. While some of his followers questioned Öcalan's conversion from Marxism-Leninism to social ecology, the PKK adopted Öcalan's proposal and began to form assemblies. It became also the ideology of the Democratic Union Party (PYD) and is applied in the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES).
On women's rights
Öcalan is a supporter of the liberation of the women, he writes in his Freedom Manifesto for Women that all slavery is based on the housewifization of women. He deems the woman often as being trapped in a situation where she accepts traditional gender roles and a disadvantaged relationship with a man.
Personal life
During Öcalan's childhood, his mother, Esma Öcalan (Uveys) was rather dominant and criticised his father, blaming him for their dire economic situation. He later explained in an interview that it was in his childhood he learned to defend himself from injustice. Like many Kurds in Turkey
The Kurds are the largest ethnic minority in Turkey. According to various estimates, they compose between 15% and 20% of the population of Turkey.; ; Sandra Mackey , "The reckoning: Iraq and the legacy of Saddam", W.W. Norton and Company, 200 ...
, Öcalan was raised speaking Turkish; according to Amikam Nachmani, lecturer at the Bar-Ilan University in Israel, Öcalan did not know Kurdish when he met him in 1991. Nachmani: "''He �calantold me that he speaks Turkish, gives orders in Turkish, and thinks in Turkish."'' In 1978 Öcalan married Kesire Yildirim, who he had met at the Ankara University and was of a better household than the regular revolutionaries around Öcalan.[Marcus, Aliza (2012) p. 43] They had a difficult marriage with reportedly many disputes and discussions. In 1988, while representing the PKK in Athens
Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...
, Greece
Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...
, his wife unsuccessfully attempted to overthrow Öcalan, following which Yildirim went underground.
After his sister Havva was married to a man from another village in an arranged marriage
Arranged marriage is a type of Marriage, marital union where the bride and groom are primarily selected by individuals other than the couple themselves, particularly by family members such as the parents. In some cultures, a professional matchmaki ...
, he felt regret. This event led Öcalan to his policies towards the liberation of women from the traditional suppressed female role. Öcalan's brother Osman became a PKK commander until he defected from the PKK with several others to establish the Patriotic and Democratic Party of Kurdistan. His other brother, Mehmet Öcalan, is a member of the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP). Fatma Öcalan is the sister of Abdullah Öcalan and Dilek Öcalan, a former parliamentarian of the HDP, is his niece. Ömer Öcalan, a current member of parliament for the HDP, is his nephew.
Honorary citizenships
Several localities have awarded him with an honorary citizenship:
Publications
Öcalan is the author of more than 40 books, four of which were written in prison. Many of the notes taken from his weekly meetings with his lawyers have been edited and published. He has also written articles for the newspaper Özgür Gündem which is a newspaper that reported on the Kurdish-Turkish conflict, under the pseudonym of Ali Firat.
Books
* ''Interviews and Speeches.'' London: Kurdistan Solidarity Committee; Kurdistan Information Centre, 1991. 46 p.
*
*
Prison Writings: The Roots of Civilisation.
' London; Ann Arbor, MI: Pluto, 2007. .
*
Prison Writings Volume II: The PKK and the Kurdish Question in the 21st Century.
' London: Transmedia, 2011. .
*
Democratic Confederalism.
' London: Transmedia, 2011. .
*
Prison Writings III: The Road Map to Negotiations.
' Cologne: International Initiative, 2012. .
*
Liberating life: Women's Revolution.
' Cologne, Germany: International Initiative Edition, 2013. .
*
Manifesto for a Democratic Civilization, Volume 1.
' Porsgrunn, Norway: New Compass, 2015. .
* ''Defending a Civilisation.''
*
The Political Thought of Abdullah Öcalan.
' London: Pluto Press, 2017. .
*
Manifesto for a Democratic Civilization, Volume 2.
' Porsgrunn, Norway: New Compass, 2017.
See also
* Kurdistan Free Life Party
* Yalçın Küçük
* Rojava
* PKK
* Kurdistan
Kurdistan (, ; ), or Greater Kurdistan, is a roughly defined geo- cultural region in West Asia wherein the Kurds form a prominent majority population and the Kurdish culture, languages, and national identity have historically been based. G ...
References
Further reading
* Kaminaris, Spiros Ch. (June 1999)
"Greece and the Middle East"
''Middle East Review of International Affairs'', Vol. 3, No. 2.
* Özcan, Ali Kemal (2005).
Turkey's Kurds: A Theoretical Analysis of the PKK and Abdullah Ocalan
'. London & New York: Routledge. .
* Parkinson, Joe, and Ayla Albayrak (15 March 2013)
"Kurd Locked in Solitary Cell Holds Key to Turkish Peace"
''The Wall Street Journal
''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...
'' (archived copy).
External links
Books by Abdullah Öcalan
"Freedom for Abdullah Öcalan – Peace in Kurdistan" International Initiative
Special report: The Ocalan file
''BBC News
BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...
'', 26 November 1999.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ocalan, Abdullah
Abdullah Öcalan
1949 births
Living people
21st-century philosophers
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Ankara University Faculty of Political Sciences alumni
Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights
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Former Marxists
Istanbul University Faculty of Law alumni
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Male feminists
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Öcalan family
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