Ocalan

Abdullah Öcalan is a Turkish Kurdish politician and revolutionary. He is the co-founder and former leader of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), a Kurdish militant organization that has been engaged in an armed conflict with the Turkish state for decades. Öcalan was apprehended in Kenya in 1999 and subsequently brought to Turkey, where he has been imprisoned on İmralı Island ever since.

Born in 1948 in the village of Ömerli, Turkey, Öcalan studied political science in Ankara. He became involved in Kurdish nationalist activism in the 1970s, eventually co-founding the PKK in 1978 with the aim of establishing an independent Kurdish state. The PKK launched its insurgency against the Turkish state in 1984, leading to a protracted conflict that has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths.

Öcalan's political ideology has evolved over time, moving from a Marxist-Leninist stance to a more democratic confederalism approach, influenced by thinkers like Murray Bookchin. He has advocated for a Kurdish autonomous region within a democratic Turkey, rather than outright independence. Despite his imprisonment, Öcalan remains a highly influential figure within the Kurdish movement and is often referred to by his followers as "Apo" (Uncle). His legal status and the ongoing conflict remain sensitive and complex issues in Turkey and the wider Middle East.