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Abdullah Öcalan

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Abdullah Öcalan
Öcalan in 1997
BornEither 1946, 1947 or 1949
Ömerli, Republic of Türkiye
NationalityKurdish
Other namesApo
CitizenshipTurkey
Occupation(s)Founder and leader of the PKK, political theorist, writer
Political partyKurdistan Workers' Party (PKK)
Other political
affiliations		Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK)
Criminal chargesTreason
Criminal penaltyLife imprisonment
SpouseKesire Yıldırım ​(m. 1978)
Relatives
Philosophy career
Notable ideas
Democratic confederalism, Jineology

Abdullah Öcalan(/ˈoʊdʒəlɑːn/OH-jə-lahn), also known asApo( "Uncle" inKurdish), is aKurdishpolitical theorist. He is one of the founders and the current leader (even though he is in prison) of themilitantKurdistan Workers Party(PKK), which fights against theTurkish governmentforindependenceofTurkish Kurdistan."Öcalan" means, inTurkish,"he who takes revenge".

The Turkish government considers him aterrorist.Turkey, theEUand theUS,along with some other countries, have also listed the PKK as a terrorist organization.[1][2]However, there are people who think this label iscontroversial.[3][4][5]

During his twenties Öcalan became more aware of his Kurdish identity[6]and he started to embraceMarxistideology.[7]After spending some time in prison he decided to form a newpolitical party.In 1978 he founded thePKKwith several others. Theirmission statementwas as follows: theliberationof the Turkish people can only be achieved through the liberation of the Kurdish people first.

In 1979 Öcalan fled toSyriawith fellowPKKmembers. He remained based in Syria andLebanonup until his arrest in 1999. In 1985 he led thePKKinto the armed struggle against the Turkish state. Öcalan called this: "a war for the protection of existence".

The Syrian state was pressured by theUSandTurkeyto give Öcalan up. As a result of this Öcalan left Syria. He did not want to be responsible for starting a regional war. In 1999 he was kidnapped inNairobi,Kenyaand brought to Turkey.[8]

Öcalan was convicted oftreasonagainst the Turkish state andsentenced to death.[9]However his sentence was reduced to life imprisonment in 2002.[10]He has been imprisoned on İmralı island since 1999. For 10 years he was the only prisoner on the island. During his time in prison, Öcalan changed his mind about many of his political opinions.[11]He came up with the ideas of "Democratic Confederalism" and "Jineology", which were then accepted by the PKK andRojava.[12]

Rojava continues to use many of his ideas in managing the territory they control in Syria.[13]

Early life[change|change source]

Abdullah Öcalan toldChris Kutscherain an interview that he does not know the exact year he was born in. This was also the last interview that Abdullah Öcalan gave before he was imprisoned. He did state that his year of birth should be 1947 or 1947.[14]However, his parents registered it as 1949. They may have had different reasons. For example, to give him a better chance when he would be called upon for the army.

He was born in the village of Ömerli, which is close to the city ofUrfa.[15]There he lived with his father, mother and his six siblings. It is confirmed that Öcalan grandmother on his mother's side was aTurk.Öcalan himself claims that his mother was a Turk as well.[16]

Öcalan had to travel for an hour to his elementary school because there were none in his village. At these schools Turkish history andnationalismwere taught strictly. So it was not unusual that Öcalan at first wanted to become a Turkish army officer. He tried out for the army entrance exam but failed. Instead he went to a high school inAnkarathat trained pupils to work in state's land registry offices. He graduated in 1968 and began to work as a civil servant inIstanbul.[17]

During his time in Istanbul he also started studying law. It was during this time that he went to meetings organized by different Kurdish students groups.[18]Because of this he started to become more aware of his Kurdish identity, in Kurdish political problems.[19]However, he did not finish his studies at the university in Istanbul and went back toAnkara.Here Öcalan enrolled in the Faculty of Political Science in 1972.[20]

At the university ofAnkarahe started to embraceMarxistideology. He became involved with leftist student groups.[21]In April 1972 he participated in theproteststhat followed the death of the Turkish revolutionary leader,Mahir Çayan.Öcalan was arrested during the protests. He spent seven months in prison.[22]

After Öcalan was released from prison, he immediately started making plans to create his own party. At first he wanted to work together with Turkish leftists groups that already existed, but they did not want to work with Öcalan. These groups were not concerned with the specific struggles of Kurds in Turkey. They believed that theirrevolutionwould already lead to thefreedomof all people, including the Kurds. But Öcalan saw things differently: he viewed Kurdistan as acolonyof Turkey that should be independent.[23]So he decided to start his own party. The first meeting took place in 1973. The organization adopted the statement of fellow memberKemal Piras the framework for their party. It stated that the freedom of the Turkish people could only be achieved through the freedom of the Kurdish people first.[24]

Abdullah Öcalan, together with several others, founded thePKKin November of 1978 at acongressin the village of Fis[25]close toDiyarbakır.PKK stands for the "Kurdistan Workers' Party". Öcalan wrote the program of the party himself.[26]

During this time Turkey was politically unstable. It looked like the government could not guarantee basic safety for its own citizens. This resulted in amilitary coupin 1980. The army imposedmartial lawin the southeast of Turkey (Turkish Kurdistan). During this time theconstitutionwas rewritten and ended up being veryauthoritarian.Between 1980 and 1983 the military often responded with violence against organized Kurds.[27]But Öcalan and fellow members of thePKKhad actually already fled toKobaniin Syria in 1979, correctly predicting the military coup of 1980.[28]

PKK leadership[change|change source]

Abdullah Öcalan has been the only leader of thePKKsince the founding of the party in 1978. He continued to be the official leader even after his imprisonment in 1999.[29]

From 1979 to 1998 Öcalan was based inLebanonandSyria.He travelled a lot between these countries and worked together with thePalestinian Liberation Organization.He organized the political education of the PKK's followers, which he found more important than their military training at that time. Furthermore he was in charge of the foreign relations anddiplomaticmeetings of thePKK.[30]

Öcalan wrote a lot of works in his lifetime. His works after the coup of 1980 were mainly about:

  1. How to build an armed organization againstfascism.
  2. How to fight Kurds working with the Turkish state.
  3. How to transform Kurdishmilitantsin freedom fighters.[31]

In August of 1985 thePKKattacked several state security forces.[32]This was the beginning of the armed conflict between the Turkish state and the PKK. Even after the military coup ended, the armed struggle of thePKKagainst the Turkish state continued. Öcalan referred to the armed struggle as "a war for the protection of existence". It was during this time that Öcalan came to believe that thePKKneeded to review theirstrategiesand solutions. His works of that time were mainly about this topic. In these works he brought up the idea of a radical form of democracy. This radical form would free Kurds, women and other opressed groups. This became the root ofDemocratic Confederalism.

Later on in the 1990s Öcalan wanted to start a conversation with the Turkish state. He tried to do this several times but it was prevented several times. ThePKKbelievedNATOwas behind this.

Eventually Abdullah Öcalan had to leaveSyriain October of 1998 because of military and diplomatic pressure on the Syrian government by the US. On top of that, Turkey threatened to start a war againstDamascus.Öcalan left Syria voluntarily because he did not want to be responsible for starting a regional war. A journey through multiple European countries led him toRome.He was arrested here. However, the Italian government did not hand him over toTurkey,and he was released. Öcalan then made plans to go toSouth Africa.However, on the 15th of February he was kidnapped outside the Greek embassy inNairobi,Kenyaand brought back to Turkey.[33]

Arrest and Imprisonment[change|change source]

On 15 February 1999 Öcalan was arrested by Turkish agents in Kenya.[34]He had been on his way toJomo Kenyatta International Airportfrom the Greek embassy in Nairobi. The Turkish agents were helped by the CIA, and possibly Mossad.[35]Details of his capture are still unclear. Costoulas, the Greek ambassador who had protected Öcalan, said that his own life was in danger after the operation.[36]Öcalan's arrest sparked many protests by Kurds around the world. The biggest protests were in Turkey, Iran and Germany. Kurdish protesters stormed the Israeli Consulate in Berlin because they blamed Mossad for Öcalan's arrest. Three of them were shot and killed by Israeli guards.[37][38]

Öcalan was brought to İmralı island. He was charged with treason and separatism on February 23rd of 1999. He was tried before amilitary courton the island from May 31st of 1999. Three Dutch lawyers came to represent him, but they were sent back to the Netherlands after the Turkish government accused them of "acting like PKK militants".[39]Öcalan ended up being represented by the Asrın Law Office. Despite his lawyers' efforts, Öcalan was sentenced to death on the 29th of June 1999.[9]Hisappealwas rejected in November, but even so the sentence would be suspended while a review by theEuropean Court of Human Rightstook place. When Turkey eventually scrapped the death sentence in 2002, Öcalan's sentence was reduced to life in prison.[10]Turkey had abandoned the death penalty in August 2002 as part of the process towards joining theEuropean Union.[40]

Between 1999 and 2009 Öcalan was the only prisoner on İmralı island. While in prison, Öcalan found much time to read, think and write. As a result of this he changed many of his views, including coming to support peaceful diplomatic solutions to the Turkish-Kurdish conflict rather than violence.[41]One of the authors who greatly influenced Öcalan's thinking during his time in prison isMurray Bookchin,an American writer whose idea of "Libertarian municipalism" would lead Öcalan to developDemocratic Confederalism.[12]

In 2009 five other prisoners were brought to İmralı island. Four of these were also PKK members, the last was a member of the Communist Party of Turkey.[42]No information on the well-being of these men has been available since 2021.[43]

In 2023, media said that his lawyers have not seen Öcalan for 2 years. Furthermore, the lawyers are not sure if he still is being kept on Imrali (island).[44]Turkey has also denied Human Rights Organizations access to Öcalan many times.[43]

Ideological Beliefs[change|change source]

Before his imprisonment, the beliefs of Öcalan and the PKK were largely based onMarxismand Marxist-inspireddecolonizationmovements from around the world.[45]The idea that Kurdistan was a colony of Turkey that deserved independence was central to their ideology.[46]The PKK fought the Turkish government with this goal of independence in mind.

However, during his time in prison Öcalan moved away from Marxism.[11][47]He came up with his own ideology. Öcalan's new ideology is called "Democratic Confederalism". He also refers to it as a "democracy without a state". Öcalan believes that thecapitalistnation-stateis alwaysoppressive,and that it would not make sense for the Kurds to make a new nation-state right after they become independent from another. In other words, he does not likecentralism.[48]Instead, he describes a model of state organization in which towns rule themselves. They do this through their own local councils. The council members are chosen by the townspeople. Sometimes the local councils will organize large meetings with councils from other towns to talk about bigger problems, but there will not be a central government.[49]Each town will also be a military unit, so they can defend themselves when they have to.Direct democracy,feminismand the protection of nature are central pillars of Democratic Confederalism.[50]Öcalan believes women should be involved at every level of society, including politics. He says no society is free unless the women are free.[51][52][53]Öcalan calls his uniquely Middle-Eastern form of feminism "Jineology".

The PKK has since accepted Öcalan's new ideas. They made it part of their beliefs.[54]Also, starting in 2012, the Kurds ofRojavaput the ideas of Democratic Confederalism into practice in northeast Syria.[13][12]

References[change|change source]

  1. ↑"Council Decision (CFSP) 2024/332 of 16 January 2024 updating the list of persons, groups and entities covered by Common Position 2001/931/CFSP on the application of specific measures to combat terrorism, and repealing Decision (CFSP) 2023/1514".EUR-Lex.Retrieved23 May2024.
  2. ↑"Foreign Terrorist Organizations".U.S. Department of State.Retrieved23 May2024.
  3. ↑tagesschau.de."EU-Gericht: PKK zu Unrecht auf EU-Terrorliste".tagesschau.de(in German).Retrieved2021-01-17.
  4. ↑Bodette, Meghan (2018)."It's time to delist the PKK as a terror organisation".Progressive International.Retrieved2024-05-23.
  5. ↑Rubin, Michael (2020)."US Should Follow Belgium's Lead and End PKK Terror Designation".American Enterprise Institute - AEI.Retrieved2024-05-23.
  6. ↑Kiel, Stephanie L. (2011).Understanding the power of insurgent leadership: A case study of Abdullah Öcalan and the PKK.ProQuest Dissertations Publishing. p. 22.
  7. ↑Marcus, Aliza (2007).Blood and Belief: The PKK and the Kurdish Fight for Independence.New York: New York: New York University Press. pp. 24–25.ISBN08147-9611-7.
  8. ↑Guneser, Grubačić, Lilley, Havin, Andrej, Sasha (2020).The Art of Freedom: A Brief History of the Kurdish Liberation Struggle.Oakland: Oakland: PM Press. pp. 69–71.ISBN9781629637815.{{cite book}}:CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  9. ↑9.09.1Hacaoglu, Selcan (1999)."Öcalan sentenced to death - The Argus Press".news.google.com.Retrieved2024-05-23.
  10. ↑10.010.1Archives, L. A. Times (2002-10-04)."Kurd's Death Sentence Commuted to Life Term".Los Angeles Times.Retrieved2024-05-23.
  11. ↑11.011.1Novellis, Andrea (2018)."The Rise of Feminism in the PKK: Ideology or Strategy?"(PDF).Zanj: The Journal of Critical Global South Studies.2:115. Archived from the original on 2021-07-15.Retrieved2024-05-23– via ScienceOpen.{{cite journal}}:CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  12. ↑12.012.112.2"Writings of Obscure American Leftist Drive Kurdish Forces in Syria".Voice of America.2017-01-16.Retrieved2024-05-23.
  13. ↑13.013.1Shahvisi, Arianne (2023-06-09)."Beyond orientalism: exploring the distinctive feminism of democratic confederalism in Rojava".Geopolitics.26(4): 1–25.doi:10.1080/14650045.2018.1554564'].
  14. ↑"Abdullah Ocalan's Last Interview".web.archive.org.2013-10-17. Archived from the original on 2013-10-17.Retrieved2024-05-22.{{cite web}}:CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  15. ↑Zartman, Jonathan K. (2020).Conflict in the modern Middle East: an encyclopedia of civil war, revolutions, and regime change.Santa Barbara: California: Santa Barbara: California: ABC-CLIO. p. 219.ISBN979-82-16-06477-0.
  16. ↑Marcus, Aliza (2007).Blood and Belief: The PKK and the Kurdish Fight for Independence.New York: New York University Press. p. 15.ISBN0-8147-9611-7.
  17. ↑Marcus, Aliza (2007).Blood and Belief: The PKK and the Kurdish Fight for Independence.New York: New York University Press. pp. 17–18.ISBN0-8147-9611-7.
  18. ↑Guneser, Grubačić, Lilley, Havin, Andrej, Sasha (2020).The Art of Freedom A Brief History of the Kurdish Liberation Struggle.Oakland: Oakland: PM Press. p. 69.ISBN9781629637815.{{cite book}}:CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  19. ↑Kiel, Stephanie L. (2011).Understanding the power of insurgent leadership: A case study of Abdullah Öcalan and the PKK.ProQuest Dissertations Publishing. p. 22.
  20. ↑Guneser, Grubačić, Lilley, Havin, Andrej, Sasha (2020).The Art of Freedom: A Brief History of the Kurdish Liberation Struggle.Oakland: Oakland: PM Press. p. 69.ISBN9781629637815.{{cite book}}:CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  21. ↑Marcus, Aliza (2007).Blood and Belief: The PKK and the Kurdish Fight for Independence.New York: New York University Press. pp. 24–25.ISBN08147-9611-7.
  22. ↑Guneser, Grubačić, Lilley, Havin, Andrej, Sasha (2020).The Art of Freedom: A Brief History of the Kurdish Liberation Struggle.Oakland: Oakland: PM Press. p. 69.ISBN9781629637815.{{cite book}}:CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  23. ↑Kiel, Stephanie L. (2011).Understanding the power of insurgent leadership: A case study of Abdullah Öcalan and the PKK.ProQuest Dissertation Publishing. pp. 22–23.
  24. ↑Guneser, Grubačić, Lilley, Havin, Andrej, Sasha (2020).Template:The Art of Freedom: A Brief History of the Kurdish Liberation Struggle.Oakland: Oakland: PM Press. p. 69.ISBN9781629637815.{{cite book}}:CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  25. ↑Guneser, Grubačić, Lilley,, Havin, Andrej, Sasha (2020).The Art of Freedom: A Brief History of the Kurdish Liberation Struggle.Oakland: Oakland: PM Press. p. 69.ISBN9781629637815.{{cite book}}:CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link) CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  26. ↑Zartman, Jonathan K. (2020).Conflict in the Modern Middle East: An Encyclopedia of Civil War, Revolutions, and Regime Change.Santa Barbara: California: Santa Barbara: California: ABC-CLIO. p. 69.ISBN979-82-16-06477-0.
  27. ↑Kiel, Stephani L. (2011).Understanding the power of insurgent leadership: A case study of Abdullah Öcalan and the PKK.ProQuest Dissertations Publishing. pp. 23–24.
  28. ↑Guneser, Grubačić, Lilley, Havin, Andrej, Sasha (2020).Template:The Art of Freedom: A Brief History of the Kurdish Liberation Struggle.Oakland: Oakland: PM Press. p. 69.ISBN9781629637815.{{cite book}}:CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  29. ↑Kiel, Stephanie L. (2011).Understanding the power of insurgent leadership: A case study of Abdullah Öcalan and the PKK.ProQuest Dissertations Publisher. p. 1.
  30. ↑Guneser, Grubačić, Lilley, Havin, Andrej, Sasha (2020).The Art of Freedom: A Brief History of the Kurdish Liberation Struggle.Oakland: Oakland: PM Press. p. 69.ISBN9781629637815.{{cite book}}:CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  31. ↑Guneser, Grubačić, Lilley, Havin, Andrej, Sasha (2020).The Art of Freedom: A Brief History of the Kurdish Liberation Struggle.Oakland: Oakland: PM Press. pp. 69–70.ISBN9781629637815.{{cite book}}:CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  32. ↑Kiel, Stephanie L. (2011).Understanding the power of insurgent leadership: A case study of Abdullah Öcalan and the PKK.ProQuest Dissertation Publishing. p. 24.
  33. ↑Guneser, Grubačić, Lilley, Havin, Andrej, Sasha (2020).The Art of Freedom: A Brief History of the Kurdish Liberation Struggle.Oakland: Oakland: PM Press. pp. 70–71.{{cite book}}:CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  34. ↑Gilbert, Geoff (1999)."The Arrest of Abdullah Öcalan".Leiden Journal of International Law.12(3): 565–574.
  35. ↑Weiner, Tim (1999-02-20)."U.S. Helped Turkey Find and Capture Kurd Rebel".The New York Times.ISSN0362-4331.Retrieved2024-05-23.
  36. ↑Ünlü, Ferhat (17 July 2007)."Türkiye Öcalan için Kenya'ya para verdi".Sabah(in Turkish). Archived fromthe originalon 12 January 2008.Retrieved18 December2008.
  37. ↑Cohen, Roger (1999-02-18)."3 KURDS SHOT DEAD BY ISRAELI GUARDS AT BERLIN PROTEST".The New York Times.ISSN0362-4331.Retrieved2024-05-23.
  38. ↑Hooper, John; Kundnani, By Hans (1999-02-18)."Military action and three deaths after Ocalan's capture".The Guardian.ISSN0261-3077.Retrieved2024-05-23.
  39. ↑"Washingtonpost.com: Turkey Celebrates Capture of Ocalan".www.washingtonpost.com.Retrieved2024-05-23.
  40. ↑Ap (2002-08-02)."Turkey abolishes death penalty | The Independent".The Independent.Retrieved2024-05-23.
  41. ↑"PKK-leider Öcalan roept op tot 'diepgaande verzoening' in Turkije".nos.nl(in Dutch). 2019-05-06.Retrieved2024-05-23.
  42. ↑"PKK leader Ocalan gets company in prison - UPI.com".UPI.Retrieved2024-05-23.
  43. ↑43.043.1medya, eylul (2024-03-19)."Swiss Parliament urged to address Öcalan's isolation on İmralı Island".Medya News.Retrieved2024-05-23.
  44. ↑Johansen, Peter M. [Being kept in Erdogan's dungeon] Holdes i Erdogans fangehull. 2023-04-17.Klassekampen.Pages 14 and 15
  45. ↑Jongerden, Joost (2017-10-01)."Gender equality and radical democracy: Contractions and conflicts in relation to the" new paradigm "within the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK)".Anatoli. De l’Adriatique à la Caspienne. Territoires, Politique, Sociétés(8): 233–256.doi:10.4000/anatoli.618.ISSN2111-4064.
  46. ↑Kiel, Stephanie L. (2011).Understanding the power of insurgent leadership: A case study of Abdullah Öcalan and the PKK.ProQuest Dissertation Publishing. pp. 22–23.
  47. ↑"Bookchin, Öcalan, and the Dialectics of Democracy | New Compass".web.archive.org.2016-04-01. Archived fromthe originalon 2016-04-01.Retrieved2024-05-23.
  48. ↑Öcalan, Abdullah (2017).The Political Thought of Abdullah Öcalan: Kurdistan, Woman's Revolution and Democratic Confederalism.London: Pluto Press. pp. 30–56.ISBN9780745399768.
  49. ↑Öcalan, Abdullah (2011).Democratic Confederalism.London: Transmedia Publishing.ISBN978-0-9567514-2-3.
  50. ↑Öcalan, Abdullah (2011).Democratic Confederalism.London: Transmedia Publishing Ltd. p. 21.ISBN978-3-941012-47-9.
  51. ↑Öcalan, Abdullah (2017).The Political Thought of Abdullah Öcalan: Kurdistan, Woman's Revolution and Democratic Confederalism.London: Pluto Press. pp. 57–96.ISBN9780745399775.
  52. ↑Käser, Isabel (2021).The Kurdish women's freedom movement: gender, body politics and militant feminities.Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 130.ISBN978-1-316-51974-5.
  53. ↑Argentieri, Benedetta (3 February 2015)."One group battling Islamic State has a secret weapon – female fighters".Reuters.Archived fromthe originalon 3 February 2015.Retrieved24 November2016.
  54. ↑Enzinna, Wes (2015-11-24)."A Dream of Secular Utopia in ISIS' Backyard".The New York Times.ISSN0362-4331.Retrieved2024-05-23.

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