Ocalan, Abdullah (1948–)

Abdullah Ocalan, the leader of the left-wing guerrilla unit known as the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), was born in 1948 in southeastern Turkey, near the Syrian border. He is generally considered to be the strongest advocate and fighter for Kurdish sovereignty and has been labeled a hero by some Kurds, a terrorist by most international intelligence sources, and a “baby killer” by the Turkish government.

Raised by his peasant family in Omerli, Ocalan had vague political aspirations as a youngster. He tried to enter the Turkish military but was refused, a decision he claims was related to his Kurdish ancestry. Later, Ocalan was accepted into Ankara University, where he studied political science and first began to embrace Marxism and voice left-wing sentiments. He organized student movements and was jailed for distributing leftist brochures. He then dropped out of Ankara University, returned to southeastern Turkey, and began to advocate for a Kurdish state.

In 1977, Ocalan and two comrades wrote a manifesto, “The National Road to the Kurdish Revolution.” This document would become the blueprint for and the beginning of the PKK. In 1980 a military coup in Turkey forced Ocalan and some of his cohorts to flee to Syria, where they began forming and training the ranks that would later be known as the PKK. On August 15, 1984, the PKK began its armed campaign for a Kurdish state with an attack on a pro-government village in southeastern Turkey.

Ocalan, whose surname means “avenger” in Turkish, is usually referred to as “Apo,” Kurdish for “uncle.” His leadership between 1984 and 1999 resulted in a terribly bloody outcome for the PKK and Turkey. Ocalan is alleged to have ordered the murder of uncountable civilians, the kidnapping of Western tourists, and the murder of many comrades who challenged his beliefs. In the overall war, Turkish officials claim that nearly 40,000 people died as a result of PKK offensives and government retaliation.

In 1999, Ocalan was apprehended in Kenya and brought back to Turkey, where he was tried and sentenced to death for treason and sedition. The day he was sentenced, riots broke out, demonstrations were held in Turkey and Europe, and Turkish embassies throughout Europe were invaded. These actions were orchestrated by some of the 850,000 Kurds living in Turkey and the various countries of Europe. Ocalan appealed for the overturn of the death penalty and announced a cease-fire, ordering all PKK forces to leave Turkey. In February 2000, the PKK officially foreswore its 15-year revolution and agreed to the political program proposed by its imprisoned leader. In 2002 PKK had nearly 10,000 active members and supporters throughout Europe.

In October 2002, Turkey commuted Ocalan's sentence to life in prison, following the country's abolition of the death penalty to bring its laws in line with the requirements of the European Union, [Page 440]which Turkey wished to join. Nonetheless, in 2003, the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France, found that Ocalan's 1999 trial was unfair, claiming that Ocalan's defense was improperly restricted. Turkey appealed the ruling, but in 2005 the European Court upheld the ruling and recommended a retrial, which Turkey refused to hold.

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