Editing Abdullah Öcalan

{{Short description|Founder of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK)}}
{{pp-extended|small=yes}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2024}}
{{Infobox philosopher
| name               = Abdullah Öcalan
| image              = Abdullah Öcalan.png
| caption            = Öcalan in 1997
| birth_date         ={{birth date and age|df=yes|1948|04|04}}<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/economy/factbox-who-is-pkk-leader-abdullah-ocalan-idUSLO94519/|title=FACTBOX-Who is PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan?|date=2009-07-24|website=Reuters}}</ref> or {{birth date and age|df=yes|1949|04|04}}<ref name="ANFNews">{{cite web |title=International Initiative: Celebrate Öcalan's birthday with us |url=https://anfenglishmobile.com/features/international-initiative-celebrate-Oecalan-s-birthday-with-us-42742 |website=ANFNews |access-date=18 April 2020 |ref=ANFnews}}</ref>
| birth_place        = [[Ömerli, Halfeti|Ömerli]], Turkey
| nationality        = [[Kurdish people|Kurdish]]<ref name="RelTurkKurdCiv">{{cite encyclopedia |editor-surname = Djupe | editor-given = Paul A. | editor-link = openlibrary:authors/OL2814131A | editor-surname2 = Rozell | editor-given2 = Mark J. | editor-link2 = Mark J. Rozell | editor-surname3 = Jelen | editor-given3 = Ted G. | editor-link3 = openlibrary:authors/OL444962A | article = Religion in Turkey's Kurdish Conflict | article-url = https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780190614379.001.0001/acref-9780190614379-e-673#acref-9780190614379-e-673-div1-3 | author-surname = Türkmen | author-given = Gülay | encyclopedia = The Oxford Encyclopedia of Politics and Religion | publisher = [[Oxford University Press]] | year = 2020 |isbn=978-0-19-061438-6 | doi = 10.1093/acref/9780190614379.001.0001}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Profile: Abdullah Ocalan ( Greyer and tempered by long isolation, PKK leader is braving the scepticism of many Turks, and some of his own fighters) |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/europe/2013/03/201332114565201776.html |publisher=Al Jazeera |date=21 March 2013 |access-date=30 October 2024}}</ref><ref>Özcan, Ali Kemal. ''Turkey's Kurds: A Theoretical Analysis of the PKK and Abdullah Öcalan''. London: Routledge, 2005.</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Phillips |first1=David L. |title=The Kurdish Spring: A New Map of the Middle East |date=2017 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-351-48036-9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nh8xDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT60|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Butler |first1=Daren |title=Kurdish rebel chief Ocalan dons mantle of peacemaker |url=https://uk.reuters.com/article/us-turkey-kurds-ocalan/kurdish-rebel-chief-ocalan-dons-mantle-of-peacemaker-idUKBRE92K0KG20130321 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180714080527/https://uk.reuters.com/article/us-turkey-kurds-ocalan/kurdish-rebel-chief-ocalan-dons-mantle-of-peacemaker-idUKBRE92K0KG20130321 |url-status=dead |archive-date=14 July 2018 |website=UK Reuters |language=en |date=21 March 2013}}</ref>
| citizenship        = Turkey
| occupation         = Founder and leader of militant organization [[Kurdistan Workers' Party|PKK]],<ref name="Paul">Paul J. White, ''Primitive rebels or revolutionary modernizers?: The Kurdish national movement in Turkey'', Zed Books, 2000, [https://books.google.com/books?id=a80KQ4jdOeUC "Professor Robert Olson, University of Kentucky"]</ref> political activist, writer, [[List of political theorists|political theorist]]
| education          = [[Faculty of Political Science, Ankara University]]<ref>{{cite book |last1=Öcalan |first1=Abdullah |title=Capitalism: The Age of Unmasked Gods and Naked Kings |date=2015 |publisher=New Compass |page=115 }}</ref>
| organization       = [[Kurdistan Workers' Party]] (PKK), [[Kurdistan Communities Union]] (KCK)
| spouse             = {{Marriage|Kesire Yıldırım|24 May 1978}}
| relatives          = {{Ubl
  | [[Osman Öcalan]] (brother)
  | [[Ömer Öcalan]] (nephew)
  | [[Dilek Öcalan]] (niece)
  }}
| notable_ideas    = {{flatlist|
[[Democratic confederalism]]<br>[[Jineology]]
}}
}}

'''Abdullah Öcalan''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|oʊ|dʒ|əl|ɑː|n}} {{respell|OH|jə-lahn}};<ref name="US State Dept">{{cite book|title=Political Violence against Americans 1999|publisher=[[Bureau of Diplomatic Security]]|isbn=978-1-4289-6562-1|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=B6aqciIXBdQC&pg=PA123 123]|date= 2000}}</ref> {{IPA|tr|œdʒaɫan|lang}}; born 4 April 1948 or 1949), also known as '''Apo'''<ref name="US State Dept" /><ref>{{cite encyclopedia|title=Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK)|url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/325238/Kurdistan-Workers-Party-PKK#ref1106877|encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]|access-date=25 July 2013}}</ref> (short for Abdullah in [[Turkish language|Turkish]]; [[Kurdish languages|Kurdish]] for "uncle"),<ref>{{cite book|last=Mango|first=Andrew|title=Turkey and the War on Terror: 'For Forty Years We Fought Alone'|year=2005|publisher=London|location=Routledge|isbn=978-0-203-68718-5|page=32|quote=The most ruthless among them was Abdullah Öcalan, known as Apo (a diminutive for Abdullah; the word also means 'uncle' in Kurdish).}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Jongerden|first=Joost|title=The Settlement Issue in Turkey and the Kurds: An Analysis of Spatial Policies, Modernity and War|url=https://archive.org/details/settlementissuet00jong_169|url-access=limited|year=2007|publisher=Brill|location=Leiden, the Netherlands|isbn=978-90-04-15557-2|page=[https://archive.org/details/settlementissuet00jong_169/page/n86 57]|quote=In 1975 the group settled on a name, the Kurdistan Revolutionaries (Kurdistan Devrimcileri), but others knew them as Apocu, followers of Apo, the nickname of Abdullah Öcalan (apo is also Kurdish for uncle).}}</ref> is a founding member of the militant [[Kurdistan Workers' Party]] (PKK).<ref name="DoS">{{cite web |last=Powell |first=Colin |title=2001 Report on Foreign Terrorist Organizations |url=https://2001-2009.state.gov/s/ct/rls/rpt/fto/2001/5258.htm |work=Foreign Terrorist Organizations |publisher=Bureau of Public Affairs, U.S. State Department |location=Washington, DC |date=5 October 2001 |access-date=24 June 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|date=20 March 2019|title=AMs criticise Kurdish leader's treatment|language=en-GB|work=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-politics-47646773|access-date=21 May 2020}}</ref>

Öcalan was based in Syria from 1979 to 1998.<ref>{{cite news|date=3 March 2020|title=Jailed PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan granted rare family visit|work=[[Rudaw]]|url=https://www.rudaw.net/english/middleeast/turkey/030320202|access-date=30 September 2020}}</ref> 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]] to the PKK until the late 1990s.

After being forced to leave Syria, Öcalan was abducted by the [[National Intelligence Organization|Turkish National Intelligence Organization]] (MIT) in [[Nairobi]], Kenya in February 1999 and imprisoned on [[İmralı|İmralı island]] in Turkey,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Weiner |first=Tim |author-link=Tim Weiner |date=20 February 1999 |title=U.S. Helped Turkey Find and Capture Kurd Rebel (Published 1999) |language=en-US |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/02/20/world/us-helped-turkey-find-and-capture-kurd-rebel.html |access-date=7 January 2021 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> where after [[Trial of Abdullah Öcalan|a trial]] he was sentenced to death under Article 125 of the Turkish Penal Code, which concerns the formation of armed organizations.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Öcalan v Turkey (App no 46221/99) ECHR 12 May 2005 {{!}} Human Rights and Drugs|url=https://www.hr-dp.org/contents/553|access-date=7 January 2021|website=www.hr-dp.org}}</ref> The sentence was commuted to aggravated life imprisonment when Turkey [[Capital punishment in Turkey|abolished the death penalty]]. From 1999 until 2009, he was the sole prisoner<ref>{{cite news| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/303045.stm | work=BBC News | title=Prison island trial for Ocalan | date=24 March 1999}}</ref> in [[İmralı prison]] in the [[Sea of Marmara]], where he is still held.<ref>Marlies Casier, Joost Jongerden, ''Nationalisms and Politics in Turkey: Political Islam, Kemalism and the Kurdish Issue'', Taylor & Francis, 2010, [https://books.google.com/books?id=_sG-NVapmrkC&dq=%C3%96calan+%C4%B0mral%C4%B1&pg=PA146 p. 146.]</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title=Parliamentary Assembly Documents 1999 Ordinary Session (fourth part, September 1999), Volume VII |year=1999 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EkgXi4vNFjAC&pg=PA18 |page=18 |isbn=978-92-871-4139-2 |via=books.google.com |publisher=Council of Europe }}</ref>

Öcalan has advocated for a political solution to the conflict since the [[1993 Kurdistan Workers' Party ceasefire]].<ref name=":0v">{{Cite book |last=Özcan|first=Ali Kemal |title=Turkey's Kurds: A Theoretical Analysis of the PKK and Abdullah Ocalan |date=2006 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-415-36687-8 |page=205 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="MKK">Mag. Katharina Kirchmayer, ''The Case of the Isolation Regime of Abdullah Öcalan: A Violation of European Human Rights Law and Standards?'', GRIN Verlag, 2010, [https://books.google.com/books?id=E8ACMAY1rRgC&pg=PA37 p. 37]</ref> [[Imprisonment of Abdullah Öcalan|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.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-turkey-security-kurds-idUSKCN1SM1TZ |title=Jailed PKK leader visit ban lifted, Turkish minister says |date=16 May 2019 |work=Reuters}}</ref> He was also involved in negotiations with the Turkish government that led to a temporary [[Kurdish–Turkish peace process]] in 2013.<ref>{{Cite web |title=What kind of peace? The case of the Turkish and Kurdish peace process |url=https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/what-kind-of-peace-case-of-turkish-and-kurdish-peace-process/ |access-date=7 January 2021 |website=openDemocracy |language=en}}</ref> 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]] advocated by Öcalan<ref name="reuters-argentieri">{{cite news | url = http://blogs.reuters.com/great-debate/2015/02/03/the-pro-woman-ideology-battling-islamic-state/ | date = 3 February 2015 |access-date = 24 November 2016 | first = Benedetta | last = Argentieri | work = [[Reuters]] |title=One group battling Islamic State has a secret weapon – female fighters | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190822043827/http://blogs.reuters.com/great-debate/2015/02/03/the-pro-woman-ideology-battling-islamic-state/ | archive-date = 22 August 2019 | url-status = dead}}</ref> and subsequently a fundamental tenet of the [[Kurdistan Communities Union]] (KCK).<ref name="opendemocracy">{{cite web |url=https://www.opendemocracy.net/uk/anna-lau-erdelan-baran-melanie-sirinathsingh/kurdish-response-to-climate-change |date=18 November 2016 |access-date=24 November 2016 |first1=Anna |last1=Lau |first2=Erdelan |last2=Baran |first3=Melanie |last3=Sirinathsingh |publisher=[[openDemocracy]] |title=A Kurdish response to climate change |archive-date=12 November 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171112190014/https://www.opendemocracy.net/uk/anna-lau-erdelan-baran-melanie-sirinathsingh/kurdish-response-to-climate-change |url-status=dead }}</ref> Öcalan's philosophy of [[democratic confederalism]] is applied in the [[Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria]] (DAANES),<ref name=":27">{{Cite journal |last=Novellis |first=Andrea |title=The Rise of Feminism in the PKK: Ideology or Strategy? |url=https://air.unimi.it/retrieve/handle/2434/817740/1726883/zanjglobsoutstud.2.1.0115.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210715111758/https://air.unimi.it/retrieve/handle/2434/817740/1726883/zanjglobsoutstud.2.1.0115.pdf |archive-date=15 July 2021 |url-status=live |journal=Zanj: The Journal of Critical Global South Studies |volume=2 |page=116}}</ref> an autonomous [[polity]] formed in Syria in 2012.

== Early life and education ==
Öcalan was born in [[Ömerli, Halfeti|Ömerli]], a village in the [[Halfeti]] district of [[Şanlıurfa Province]] in southeastern Turkey.<ref>{{cite web |title=A Short Biography |url=http://www.pkkonline.com/en/index.php?sys=article&artID=22 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924073807/http://www.pkkonline.com/en/index.php?sys=article&artID=22 |archive-date=24 September 2015 |access-date=2 February 2015 |website=PKKOnline.com}}</ref> While some sources report his date of birth as 4 April 1949,<ref name="ANFNews"/> no official birth records exist. He has claimed not to know exactly when he was born, estimating the year to be 1946 or 1947.<ref>{{cite web |last=Kutschera |first=Chris |year=1999 |title=Abdullah Ocalan's Last Interview |url=http://www.chris-kutschera.com/A/Ocalan%20Last%20Interview.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131017171527/http://www.chris-kutschera.com/A/Ocalan%20Last%20Interview.htm |archive-date=17 October 2013 |access-date=15 October 2013 |website=Chris-Kutschera.com}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Marcus |first=Aliza |url= |title=Blood and Belief: The PKK and the Kurdish Fight for Independence |date=2009 |publisher=New York University Press |isbn=978-0-8147-9587-3 |page=[https://www.google.com/books/edition/Blood_and_Belief/V1uhlcKklRYC?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA16&printsec=frontcover 16] |oclc=}}</ref> He attended elementary school in a neighboring village and wanted to join the [[Turkish army]]. He applied to the military high school but failed in the admission exam.<ref name="Marcus17">Marcus, Aliza (2009), pp. 17–18</ref> In 1966 he began to study at a vocational high school in [[Ankara]] ({{langx|tr|Ankara Tapu-Kadastro Meslek Lisesi}})<ref name="Marcus17" /> and attended meetings of anti-communists but also of circles active in left-wing politics<ref name=":19">{{Cite book|last1=Brauns|first1=Nikolaus|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qT3dQgAACAAJ|title=PKK – Perspektiven des kurdischen Freiheitskampfes: zwischen Selbstbestimmung, EU und Islam|last2=Kiechle|first2=Brigitte|date=2010|publisher=Schmetterling-Verlag|isbn=978-3-89657-564-7|page=39|language=de}}</ref> interested in improving Kurdish rights.<ref name="Marcus17" /> He was also a very conservative Muslim in his youth and admired [[Necip Fazıl Kısakürek]].<ref>Uğur Mumcu (Haziran 2020). Kürt Dosyası. SBF'de Şafak Bildirisi Dağıtılıyor. Uğur Mumcu Araştırmacı Gazetecilik Vakfı. p. 7. {{ISBN|9786054274512}}</ref> After graduating in 1969, Öcalan began working at the [[Deed|Title Deeds]] Office of [[Diyarbakır]]. It was at this time his political affiliation began to reform.<ref name=":19" /> He was relocated one year later to Istanbul<ref name="Marcus17" /> where he participated in the meetings of the [[Revolutionary Cultural Eastern Hearths]] (DDKO), a Kurdish organization.<ref>Marcus, Aliza (2009) p. 23</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Yılmaz|first=Kamil|title=Disengaging from Terrorism – Lessons from the Turkish Penitents|publisher=Routledge|year=2014|isbn=978-1-317-96449-0|page=32|language=en}}</ref> Later, he entered the [[Istanbul University|Istanbul Law Faculty]] but after the first year transferred to [[Ankara University]] to study political science.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://arama.hurriyet.com.tr/arsivnews.aspx?id=-513250 |access-date=22 December 2008 |title=Too many questions, but not enough answers |work=[[Turkish Daily News]]|date=8 June 1999 |first=Fehmi |last=Koru |author-link=Fehmi Koru |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090213080434/http://arama.hurriyet.com.tr/arsivnews.aspx?id=-513250 |archive-date=13 February 2009 }}</ref>

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]] later regretted this decision, since the PKK was to become a much greater threat to the state than ''Dev-Genç''.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.taraf.com.tr/haber.asp?id=13608|access-date=4 January 2009|title='Pilot Necati' sivil istihbaratçıymış|work=[[Taraf]]|author=Nevzat Cicek|date=31 July 2008|language=tr|quote=Abdullah Öcalan'ın İstanbul'dan Ankara'ya gelmesine keşke izin verilmeseydi. O zamanlar Dev-Genç'i bölmek için böyle bir yol izlendi... Kürt gençlerini Marksistler'in elinden kurtarmak ve Dev-Genç'in bölünmesi hedeflendi. Bunda başarılı olundu olunmasına ama Abdullah Öcalan yağdan kıl çeker gibi kaydı gitti. Keşke Tuzluçayır'da öldürülseydi!|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080809132845/http://www.taraf.com.tr/haber.asp?id=13608|archive-date=9 August 2008|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Öcalan was not able to graduate from Ankara University,<ref>{{Cite web|title=Ocalan Used Charisma, Guns, Bombs|url=https://apnews.com/article/fd2a765c10d8f6cd54a7a46596714608|access-date=14 May 2021|work=AP News}}</ref> as on 7 April 1972 he was arrested after participating in a rally against the killing of [[Mahir Çayan]].<ref name=":19" /> He was charged with distributing the left-wing political magazine ''Şafak'' (published by [[Doğu Perinçek]]) and was held for seven months at the [[Mamak, Ankara|Mamak]] Prison.<ref name=":02">{{cite web|url=https://tr.boell.org/sites/default/files/ays-tarihvakfi-18x24-boll-r7-eng.pdf|title=Who is who in Turkish politics|website=Heinrich Böll Stiftung|pages=11–13|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191115005654/https://tr.boell.org/sites/default/files/ays-tarihvakfi-18x24-boll-r7-eng.pdf|archive-date=15 November 2019|access-date=15 November 2019}}</ref> In November 1973, the Ankara Democratic Association of Higher Education, (''Ankara Demokratik Yüksek Öğrenim Demeği,'' {{Interlanguage link|Ankara Demokratik Yüksek Öğrenim Derneği|lt=ADYÖD|tr}}) was founded and shortly after he was elected to join its board.<ref name=":24">{{cite journal|last1=Jongerden|first1=Joost|last2=Akkaya|first2=Ahmet Hamdi|date=1 June 2012|title=The Kurdistan Workers Party and a New Left in Turkey: Analysis of the revolutionary movement in Turkey through the PKK's memorial text on Haki Karer|url=http://journals.openedition.org/ejts/4613|journal=European Journal of Turkish Studies. Social Sciences on Contemporary Turkey|language=en|issue=14|doi=10.4000/ejts.4613|issn=1773-0546|doi-access=free|access-date=18 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200216022147/https://journals.openedition.org/ejts/4613|archive-date=16 February 2020|url-status=dead|hdl=1854/LU-3101207|hdl-access=free}}</ref> In the ADYÖD several students close to the political views of [[Hikmet Kıvılcımlı]] were active.<ref name=":24" /> In December 1974, ''ADYÖD'' was closed down.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Jongerden|first1=Joost |last2=Akkaya|first2=Ahmet Hamdi |date=1 June 2012 |title=The Kurdistan Workers Party and a New Left in Turkey: Analysis of the revolutionary movement in Turkey through the PKK's memorial text on Haki Karer |url=http://journals.openedition.org/ejts/4613|journal=European Journal of Turkish Studies. Social Sciences on Contemporary Turkey |language=en |issue=14 |issn=1773-0546 |doi=10.4000/ejts.4613 |doi-access=free |access-date=18 May 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200216022147/https://journals.openedition.org/ejts/4613 |archive-date=16 February 2020 |url-status=dead |hdl=1854/LU-3101207 |hdl-access=free}}</ref> In 1975, together with [[Mazlum Doğan]] and {{Interlanguage link|Mehmet Hayri Durmuş|lt=Mehmet Hayri Durmuş|ku||WD=}}, he published a political booklet which described the main aims for a ''Revolution in Kurdistan''.<ref name=":7">{{cite book |last=Stein|first=Gottfried |title=Endkampf um Kurdistan?: die PKK, die Türkei und Deutschland |publisher=Aktuell |year=1994 |isbn=3-87959-510-0 |page=67 |language=de}}</ref> During meetings in Ankara between 1974 and 1975, Öcalan and others came to the conclusion that [[Kurdistan]] was a [[Internal colonialism|colony]] and preparations ought to be made for a revolution.<ref name=":11">{{Cite book |last=Yilmaz|first=Özcan |title=La formation de la nation kurde en Turquie |publisher=Graduate Institute Publications |year=2015 |isbn=978-2-940503-17-9 |page=137 |language=fr}}</ref> 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.<ref name=":11" /> At the beginning, this idea had only a few supporters, but following a journey Öcalan made through the cities of [[Ağrı]], [[Batman, Turkey|Batman]], [[Diyarbakır]], [[Bingöl]], [[Kars]] and [[Urfa]] in 1977, the group counted over 300 adherents and had organised about thirty armed militants.<ref name=":11" />

== 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]] (PKK).<ref name="cnn-apology">{{cite news |url=http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/meast/9905/31/ocalan.02/ |archive-date=9 December 2001 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20011209065557/http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/meast/9905/31/ocalan.02/ |title=Kurdish leader Ocalan apologizes during trial |publisher=CNN |date=31 May 1999 |access-date=11 January 2008 |url-status=dead}}</ref> In July 1979 he fled to Syria.<ref>{{cite book|author=Andrew Mango|title=Turkey and the War on Terror: For Forty Years We Fought Alone (Contemporary Security Studies)|date=2005|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-0-415-35002-0|page=34|url=http://bookzz.org/ireader/889212|access-date=24 September 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150925130201/http://bookzz.org/ireader/889212|archive-date=25 September 2015}}</ref>

Since its foundation, the party focused on ideological training.<ref name=":25">{{Cite book |last=Özcan |first=Ali Kemal |url=http://ndl.ethernet.edu.et/bitstream/123456789/51680/1/37.pdf.pdf |title=Turkey's Kurds: A Theoretical Analysis of the PKK and Abdullah Ocalan |publisher=[[Routledge]] |year=2005 |page=104}}</ref> In 1987, Öcalan saw the success of the party as based on the application of [[Marxism–Leninism|Marxism-Leninism]] to the specific conditions of Kurdistan.<ref name=":25" /> 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.<ref name=":25" /> "If you break the link between yourself and ideology you will beastialize," he told his followers.<ref>Özcan, Ali Kemal (2005) p. 105</ref> 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.<ref name=":7" />

In [[1984 PKK attacks|1984, the PKK initiated a campaign]] of armed conflict by attacking government forces<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.hrw.org/en/news/1998/11/20/letter-italian-prime-minister-massimo-dalema |title=Letter to Italian Prime Minister Massimo D'Alema |work=[[Human Rights Watch]] |date=21 November 1998}}</ref><ref name="SECURITY">{{Cite web |url=https://www.amnesty.org/ailib/intcam/turkey/turktoc.htm |title=Turkey: No security without human rights |work=[[Amnesty International]] |date=October 1996}} {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100805063450/http://www.amnesty.org/ailib/intcam/turkey/turktoc.htm|date=5 August 2010}}</ref><ref name="REPORT">{{Cite web |url=http://pdm.medicine.wisc.edu/18-2pdfs/new152RodopluTurkey.pdf |title=Special Report: Terrorism in Turkey |author1=Ulkumen Rodophu |author2=Jeffrey Arnold |author3=Gurkan Ersoy |date=6 February 2004}} {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080528185235/http://pdm.medicine.wisc.edu/18-2pdfs/new152RodopluTurkey.pdf |date=28 May 2008 }}</ref> 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]] in Iraq. In negotiations between the [[Kurdistan Democratic Party]] (KDP) and the PKK, it was agreed that the latter was able to move freely in [[Iraqi Kurdistan]]. He also met twice with [[Masoud Barzani]], the leader of the KDP in [[Damascus]], 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.<ref name=":9">{{Cite web|last=Kutschera|first=Chris|date=15 July 1994|title=Mad Dreams of Independence|url=https://merip.org/1994/07/mad-dreams-of-independence/|access-date=25 September 2020|website=MERIP|language=en-US}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Cigerli|first1=Sabri|title=Ocalan et le PKK: Les mutations de la question kurde en Turquie et au moyen-orient|last2=Saout|first2=Didier Le|publisher=Maisonneuve et Larose|year=2005|isbn=978-2-7068-1885-1|page=173|language=fr}}</ref> 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.<ref name=":9" />

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.<ref>{{cite book|last=Gunes|first=Cengiz|title=The Kurdish National Movement in Turkey: From Protest to Resistance|year=2013|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-136-58798-6|page=127|language=en}}</ref> 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.<ref>Gunes, Cengiz (2013), pp. 127–128</ref> Then in 1993, upon request of Turkish president [[Turgut Özal]], Öcalan met with Jalal Talabani for negotiations following which [[1993 Kurdistan Workers' Party ceasefire|Öcalan declared a unilateral cease fire]] which had a duration from 20 March to 15 April.<ref name=":4">{{cite book|title=Nahost Jahrbuch 1993: Politik, Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft in Nordafrika und dem Nahen und Mittleren Osten|date= 2013|publisher=Springer-Verlag|isbn=978-3-322-95968-3|page=21|language=de}}</ref><ref name="White-2000">{{cite book |last=White |first=Paul J. |title=Primitive Rebels Or Revolutionary Modernizers?: The Kurdish National Movement in Turkey |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=a80KQ4jdOeUC&pg=PA223|year=2000|publisher=Zed Books |location=London |isbn=978-1-85649-822-7 |pages=223– |chapter=Appendix 2 |oclc=1048960654}}</ref> Later he prolonged it in order to enable negotiations with the Turkish government. Soon after Özal died on 17 April 1993,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-turgut-ozal-1456191.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220506/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-turgut-ozal-1456191.html |archive-date=6 May 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Obituary: Turgut Ozal|date=19 April 1993|website=The Independent|language=en|access-date=22 July 2019}}{{cbignore}}</ref> the initiative was halted by Turkey on the grounds that Turkey did not negotiate with terrorists.<ref name=":4" /> During an International Kurdish Conference in [[Brussels]] in March 1994, his initiative for equal rights for Kurds and Turks within Turkey was discussed.<ref name=":8">Stein, Gottfried (1994), p. 69</ref> 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.<ref name=":8" /> 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.<ref>Gunes, Cengiz (2013), p. 134</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=5 November 2021|title=Confessions of a former Turkish National Intelligence official|url=https://medyanews.net/confessions-of-a-former-turkish-national-intelligence-official/|access-date=10 November 2021|website=Medya News|language=en-US}}</ref>

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.<ref name=":23">{{Cite book|last1=Cigerli|first1=Sabri|title=Öcalan et le PKK: Les mutations de la question kurde en Turquie et au moyen-orient|last2=Saout|first2=Didier Le|date=2005|publisher=Maisonneuve et Larose|isbn=978-2-7068-1885-1|page=222|language=fr}}</ref> In the summer of 1995 the president of the [[Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution]] (Verfassungsschutz) Klaus Grünewald came to visit him,<ref name=":23" /><ref>{{Cite web|date=December 1995|title=Kurden : Tips vom PKK-Chef – Der Spiegel  |url=https://www.spiegel.de/spiegel/print/d-9247432.html|access-date=3 December 2020|website=www.spiegel.de}}</ref> And with the German MP [[Heinrich Lummer]] of the [[Christian Democratic Union of Germany]] (CDU) he held meetings in October 1995 in [[Damascus]] and March 1996, during which they discussed the PKK's activities in Germany.<ref name=":23" /> 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.<ref name=":12">Özcan, Ali Kemal (2006), p. 206</ref> With time, the United States (1997),<ref name="FTO"> {{cite web |author= |url=https://2009-2017.state.gov/j/ct/rls/other/des/123085.htm |title=Foreign Terrorist Organizations |website=[[U.S. Department of State]] |date=28 September 2012}}</ref> [[European Union]], [[Syria]], Turkey, and [[List of states listing the Kurdistan Workers Party as a terrorist group|other countries]] have included the PKK on their lists of terrorist organizations.<ref name="TERROR">{{cite web |title=MFA – A Report on the PKK and Terrorism |url=http://www.fas.org/irp/world/para/docs/mfa-t-pkk.htm |access-date=23 January 2015}}</ref><ref name="EU&S">{{cite web |title=Turco-Syrian Treaty |url=http://www.ict.org.il/articles/syria-turkey.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020209094227/http://www.ict.org.il/articles/syria-turkey.htm |archive-date=9 February 2002 |access-date=9 February 2002|date=20 October 1998}}</ref> A [[Greek Parliament|Greek parliamentary]] delegation from the [[PASOK]] came to visit him in the [[Beqaa Valley|Beqaa valley]] on 17 October 1996.<ref name=":23" /> During his stay in Syria he has published several books concerning the Kurdish revolution.<ref name=":8" /> On at least one occasion, in 1993, he was detained and held by Syria's [[General Intelligence Directorate (Syria)|General Intelligence Directorate]], but later released.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://hdl.handle.net/2027/uiug.30112106671198?urlappend=%3Bseq=214|title=(unknown original Turkish title)|trans-title={{!(}}PKK Leader Abdullah Ocalan Arrested in Syria{{)!}}|journal=[[Günaydın (newspaper)|Günaydın]]|date=16 December 1993|id=FBIS-WEU-93-240|page=72|language=tr|publisher=translated by [[Foreign Broadcast Information Service]]|hdl=2027/uiug.30112106671198?urlappend=%3Bseq=214 }}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite journal|author2=BB Coskun |author1=G. Bacik|s2cid=109645456|title=The PKK problem: Explaining Turkey's failure to develop a political solution|journal=Studies in Conflict & Terrorism|year=2011|volume=34|issue=3|pages=248–265|doi=10.1080/1057610X.2011.545938|url=https://wiki.zirve.edu.tr/sandbox/groups/economicsandadministrativesciences/wiki/52058/attachments/387bf/Week4.pdf?sessionID=cb5e8fbb6733b16789a0ffb6bbc66d7c647ec52c|access-date=13 July 2016 | issn = 1057-610X}}{{dead link|date=October 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot|fix-attempted=yes}}</ref> 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 [[Kobanî|Kobane]], he unsuccessfully attempted to lay the foundations for a new party which failed due to Syrian intelligence's obstruction.<ref name=":13">{{Cite journal |last=Ünver |first=H. Akın |date=2016 |title=Transnational Kurdish geopolitics in the age of shifting borders |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/26494339 |journal=Journal of International Affairs |volume=69 |issue=2 |pages=79–80 |issn=0022-197X |jstor=26494339}}</ref>

== 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.<ref name=":16">{{Cite web|date=19 February 1999|title=A Most Unwanted Man|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1999-feb-19-mn-9634-story.html|access-date=15 February 2021|website=Los Angeles Times|language=en-US}}</ref> Öcalan first went to Russia where the [[Duma|Russian parliament]] voted on 4 November 1998 to grant him asylum.<ref name=":14">{{Cite book|last=Radu|first=Michael|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rWp5F3T6a-8C&q=109+greek+parliamentarians+and+abdullah+%C3%B6calan&pg=PA73|title=Dilemmas of Democracy and Dictatorship: Place, Time and Ideology in Global Perspective|date=2005|publisher=Transaction Publishers|isbn=978-1-4128-2171-1|page=73|language=en}}</ref> On 6 November 109 [[Greek Parliament|Greek parliamentarians]] invited Öcalan to stay in Greece, a move which was repeated by {{Interlanguage link|Παναγιώτης Σγουρίδης|lt=Panayioitis Sgouridis|el||WD=}},<ref name=":14" /> the deputy speaker of the [[Hellenic Parliament|Greek Parliament]] at the time.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Varouhakis|first=Miron|date=2009|title=Fiasco in Nairobi, Greek Intelligence and the Capture of PKK Leader Abdullah Ocalan in 1999|url=https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/csi-publications/csi-studies/studies/vol53no1/pdfs/U-%20Varouhakis-The%20Case%20of%20Ocalan.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090506033656/https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/csi-publications/csi-studies/studies/vol53no1/pdfs/U-%20Varouhakis-The%20Case%20of%20Ocalan.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=6 May 2009|access-date=3 December 2020|website=[[Central Intelligence Agency]] (CIA)|page=6}}</ref> Öcalan then chose to travel to [[Italy]], where he landed on 12 November 1998 at the [[Leonardo da Vinci–Fiumicino Airport|airport]] in [[Rome]].<ref name=":17">{{Cite web|last=Traynor|first=Ian|date=28 November 1998|title=Italy 'may expel Kurd leader'|url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/1998/nov/28/kurds.iantraynor|access-date=15 February 2021|website=The Guardian|language=en}}</ref>

In 1998 the Turkish government requested the extradition of Öcalan from Italy,<ref>Italian diplomacy tries to free herself from the tangle in which it is located, between Turks and Kurds, " internationalizing " the crisis:{{cite journal|last1=Buonomo|first1=Giampiero|title=Ocalan: la suggestiva strategia turca per legittimare la pena capitale|journal=Diritto&Giustizia Edizione Online|year=2000|url=https://www.questia.com/projects#!/project/89262141|access-date=16 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160324160801/https://www.questia.com/projects#!/project/89262141|archive-date=24 March 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref> where he applied for political asylum upon his arrival. He was detained by the Italian authorities due to an arrest warrant issued by Germany.<ref name=":10">{{Cite web|publisher=United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees|title=Amnesty International Report 1999 – Italy|url=https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6aa0710.html|access-date=17 October 2020|website=Refworld|language=en}}</ref> But Italy did not extradite him to Germany, who refused to hold a trial on Öcalan in its country.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Gökkaya|first=Hasan|date=15 February 2019|title=Der mächtigste Häftling der Türkei|url=https://www.zeit.de/politik/ausland/2019-02/abdullah-oecalan-pkk-fuehrer-20-jahre-inhaftierung-tuerkei-kurdenkrieg|access-date=17 October 2020|newspaper=Die Zeit}}</ref> The German chancellor [[Gerhard Schröder]] as well as the Minister of the Interior [[Otto Schily]] preferred that Öcalan would be tried by an unspecified "European Court".<ref name=":17" /> Italy also didn't extradite him to Turkey.<ref name=":10" /> 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.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Stanley|first=Alessandra|date=21 November 1998|title=Italy Rejects Turkey's Bid For the Extradition of Kurd |language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/11/21/world/italy-rejects-turkey-s-bid-for-the-extradition-of-kurd.html|access-date=17 October 2020|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> But Italy also didn't want Öcalan to stay, and pulled several diplomatic strings to compel him to leave the country,<ref name=":16" /> which was accomplished on 16 January<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Gunter|first=Michael M.|date=2000|title=The Continuing Kurdish Problem in Turkey after Öcalan's Capture|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3993622|journal=Third World Quarterly|volume=21|issue=5|pages=850|doi=10.1080/713701074|jstor=3993622|s2cid=154977403|issn=0143-6597}}</ref> when he departed to [[Nizhny Novgorod]] in hope to find a safe haven in Russia.<ref name=":16" /> 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.<ref name=":16" /> From Russia, he took an airplane from [[Saint Petersburg]] to Greece where he arrived in [[Athens]] upon the invitation of [[Nikolas Naxakis]], a retired Admiral on 29 January 1999.<ref name=":16" /> He spent the night as a guest of the popular Greek author [[Voula Damianakou]] in [[Nea Makri]].<ref name=":16" />

Following this, Öcalan attempted to travel to [[The Hague]], to pursue a settlement of his legal situation at the [[International Criminal Court]], but the [[Netherlands]] would not let his plane land and sent him back to Greece where he landed on the island [[Corfu]] in the [[Ionian Sea|Ionean Sea]].<ref name=":16" /> Öcalan then decided to fly to [[Nairobi]] at the invitation of Greek diplomats.<ref name=":15">{{Cite web|last=Zaman|first=Amberin|author-link=Amberin Zaman|date=18 February 1999|title=Washingtonpost.com: Turkey Celebrates Capture of Ocalan|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/inatl/daily/feb99/ocalanturkey18.htm|access-date=17 December 2020|website=www.washingtonpost.com}}</ref> 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]] would assume the case.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.welt.de/print-welt/article565718/Von-der-RAF-Sympathisantin-zur-Anwaeltin-Oecalans.html|title=Von der RAF-Sympathisantin zur Anwältin Öcalans|date=3 February 1999|work=Die Welt |access-date=6 March 2020}}</ref>

== 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 ({{Langx|tr|Millî İstihbarat Teşkilatı}} '','' MIT) with the help of the [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]].<ref name="nytimes-capture">{{cite news|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E03E3D8143DF933A15751C0A96F958260|title=U.S. Helped Turkey Find and Capture Kurd Rebel|work=[[The New York Times]]|author=Weiner, Tim |date=20 February 1999}}</ref> According to the Turkish newspaper ''[[Vatan (2002 newspaper)|Vatan]]'', the Americans transferred him to the Turkish authorities, who flew him back to Turkey for trial.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://haber.vatanim.com.tr/haberdetay.asp?detay=Kurt_sorununun_cozumu_teroru_bitirir_203724_1&Newsid=203724|access-date=15 October 2008|title=Öcalan bağımsız devlete engeldi|date=15 October 2008|work=[[Vatan (2002 newspaper)|Vatan]]|quote=Öcalan yakalandığında ABD, bağımsız bir devlet kurma isteğindeydi. Öcalan, konumu itibariyle, araç olma işlevi bakımından buna engel bir isimdi. ABD bölgede yeni bir Kürt devleti kurabilmek için Öcalan'ı Türkiye'ye teslim etti.|language=tr|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081018140436/http://haber.vatanim.com.tr/haberdetay.asp?detay=Kurt_sorununun_cozumu_teroru_bitirir_203724_1&Newsid=203724|archive-date=18 October 2008|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Following his capture, the Greek Government was in turmoil and Foreign Minister [[Theodoros Pangalos (politician)|Theodoros Pangalos]], Interior Minister [[Alekos Papadopoulos]] and the Minister of Public Order [[Filippos Petsalnikos|Philipos Petsalnikos]] resigned from their posts.<ref>{{cite web|last=Murphy|first=Brian|date=18 February 1999|title=Three Greek Cabinet Ministers Resign Over Ocalan Affair|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/inatl/daily/feb99/greece021899.htm|access-date=22 August 2020|website=www.washingtonpost.com}}</ref> Costoulas, the Greek ambassador who protected him, said that his own life was in danger after the operation.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.sabah.com.tr/2007/07/17/haber,025EFB746B684ED8B16B1759BE71DE6F.html |access-date=18 December 2008 |title=Türkiye Öcalan için Kenya'ya para verdi |date=17 July 2007 |work=Sabah |language=tr |first=Ferhat |last=Ünlü |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080112170002/http://www.sabah.com.tr/2007/07/17/haber%2C025EFB746B684ED8B16B1759BE71DE6F.html |archive-date=12 January 2008 |url-status=dead}}</ref> According to Nucan Derya, Öcalan's interpreter in [[Kenya]], 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]] and face the accusations of terrorism.<ref>{{cite news|title=Ocalan interpreter tells how trap was set|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ocalan-interpreter-tells-how-trap-was-set-1.155018|access-date=22 August 2020|newspaper=The Irish Times|language=en}}</ref> Öcalan's capture led thousands of Kurds to hold [[February 1999 Kurdish protests|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 Israeli Consulate in Berlin|1999 attack]] on the Israeli [[List of diplomatic missions of Israel|consulate]] in Berlin.<ref name="PROTESTS">{{cite news |url=http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/europe/9902/17/ocalan.protest.01/ |title=Kurds seize embassies, wage violent protests across Europe |work=CNN |date=17 February 1999}}</ref><ref name="PROTESTS-ATHENS">[[Yannis Kontos]], [http://www.akakurdistan.com/kurds/stories/kontos/ "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"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180919101706/http://www.akakurdistan.com/kurds/stories/kontos/ |date=19 September 2018 }}, ''Photostory'', July 1999</ref> A group named the ''Revenge Hawks of Apo'' set fire to a department store in [[Kadıköy]] Istanbul, causing the death of 13 people.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Shatzmiller|first=Maya|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_nfskxBPwg8C&q=Revenge+Hawks+of+Apo+and+istanbul&pg=PA249|title=Nationalism and Minority Identities in Islamic Societies|date=2005|publisher=McGill-Queen's Press – MQUP|isbn=978-0-7735-2847-5|page=249|language=en}}</ref> In several European capitals and larger cities<ref>Gunter, Michael M. (2000), p. 851</ref> as well as in Iraq, [[Kurds in Iran|Iran]] and also Turkey protests were organized against his capture.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=van Bruinessen|first1=Martin|author-link=Martin van Bruinessen|last2=Bouyssou|first2=Rachel|date=1999|title=Öcalan capturé : et après? Une question kurde plus épineuse que jamais|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/24563462|journal=Critique Internationale|publisher=Sciences Po University Press|issue=4|pages=39–40|doi=10.3917/crii.p1999.4n1.0039|jstor=24563462|issn=1290-7839}}</ref>

=== Trial ===
{{Main|Trial of Abdullah Öcalan}}

[[File:Pkk supporters london april 2003.jpg|thumb|upright=2|Öcalan supporters in London, April 2003]]
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.<ref name=":1">{{cite web|title=University of Minnesota Human Rights Library|url=http://hrlibrary.umn.edu/wgad/35-1999.html|access-date=11 September 2020|website=hrlibrary.umn.edu}}</ref> A [[State Security Court (Turkey)|state security court]] consisting of one military and two civilian judges was established on İmralı island to try Öcalan.<ref name=":18">{{Cite journal|last=Chiapetta|first=Hans|date=April 2001|title=Rome, 11/15/1998: Extradition or Political Asylum for the Kurdistan Workers Party's Leader Abdullah Ocalan?|url=https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/46711807.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190414215339/https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/46711807.pdf |archive-date=14 April 2019 |url-status=live|journal=Pace International Law Review|volume=13|page=145|doi=10.58948/2331-3536.1206 }}</ref> 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]].<ref name=":15" /> On the seventh day a judge took part in the interrogations, and prepared a transcript of it.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":6">{{cite web|date=29 June 1999|title=Amnesty International calls for a retrial of PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan|url=https://www.amnesty.org/download/Documents/148000/eur440431999en.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210421052618/https://www.amnesty.org/download/Documents/148000/eur440431999en.pdf |archive-date=21 April 2021 |url-status=live|access-date=11 September 2020|website=Amnesty International}}</ref> The trial began on 31 May 1999 on the İmralı island<ref>{{Cite news|title=Trial Of Abdullah Ocalan|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/letters/trial-of-abdullah-ocalan-1.192720|access-date=9 May 2021|newspaper=The Irish Times|language=en}}</ref> in the [[Sea of Marmara]], and was organized by the Ankara State Security Court.<ref>{{cite web|title=Human Rights Watch: Ocalan Trial Monitor|url=https://www.hrw.org/legacy/backgrounder/eca/turkey/security.htm|access-date=11 September 2020|website=www.hrw.org}}</ref> During the trial, he was represented by the [[Asrın Law Office]].<ref>{{cite web|last=Fisher|first=Tony|date=October 30, 2018|title=Turkey Report, Trial of Kurdish Lawyers |url=https://eldh.eu/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Asrin-Office-Lawyers-Case-I-October-2018.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201229203247/https://eldh.eu/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Asrin-Office-Lawyers-Case-I-October-2018.pdf |archive-date=29 December 2020 |url-status=live|access-date=11 September 2020|website=eldh.eu|publisher=European Association of Lawyers for Democracy & World Human Rights}}</ref> 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.<ref name=":1" /> 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.<ref name=":6" /> The trial was accompanied by arrests of scores of Kurdish politicians from the [[People's Democracy Party]] (HADEP).<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Laizer|first=Sheri|date=1999|title=Abdullah Ocalan: A plea for justice|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/42949064|journal=Socialist Lawyer|issue=31|pages=6–8|jstor=42949064|issn=0954-3635}}</ref> In mid-June 1999, the [[Grand National Assembly of Turkey]] approved the removal of military judges from the State Security Courts, in an attempt to address criticism from the [[European Court of Human Rights]]<ref>{{Cite web|last=Morris|first=Chris|date=18 June 1999|title=Military judge barred from Ocalan trial|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/372727.stm|access-date=19 May 2021|website=news.bbc.co.uk}}</ref> and a civilian judge assumed the post of the military judge.<ref name=":18" /> 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.<ref name=":5">{{cite web|date=29 June 1999|title=Ocalan sentenced to death|url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/1999/jun/29/kurds|access-date=11 September 2020|website=The Guardian|language=en}}</ref> Öcalan was charged with treason and separatism and sentenced to death on 29 June 1999.<ref name=":2">{{cite web|last=Hacaoglu|first=Selcan|date=29 June 1999|title=The Argus-Press |via=Google News Archive Search|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1988&dat=19990629&id=uEYiAAAAIBAJ&pg=1200,5352234&hl=en|access-date=24 May 2016}}</ref> He was also banned from holding public office for life.<ref name="bbcnews-verdict">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/monitoring/380845.stm|title=Text of the Ocalan verdict|work=[[BBC News]]|date=29 June 1999}}</ref>

On the same day, [[Amnesty International]] (AI) demanded a re-trial<ref name=":6" /> and [[Human Rights Watch]] (HRW) questioned the fact that witnesses brought by the defense were not heard in the trial.<ref name=":2" /> In 1999 the [[Grand National Assembly of Turkey|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]] (MHP).<ref>{{cite news |title=Bill to spare life of Ocalan withdrawn by Ecevit |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/bill-to-spare-life-of-ocalan-withdrawn-by-ecevit-1.202569 |access-date=10 March 2020 |newspaper=[[The Irish Times]] |language=en}}</ref> In January 2000 the Turkish government declared the death sentence was delayed until the [[European Court of Human Rights]] (ECHR) reviewed the verdict.<ref name="cnn-excecutiondelay">{{cite news|url=http://archives.cnn.com/2000/WORLD/meast/01/12/ocalan.01/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060526031932/http://archives.cnn.com/2000/WORLD/meast/01/12/ocalan.01/|archive-date=26 May 2006|title=Turkey delays execution of Kurdish rebel leader Ocalan|publisher=CNN|date=12 January 2000}}</ref> Upon the abolition of the death penalty in Turkey in August 2002,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/turkey-abolishes-death-penalty-171956.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190223184650/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/turkey-abolishes-death-penalty-171956.html |archive-date=23 February 2019 |url-access=limited |url-status=live |title=Turkey abolishes death penalty |date=3 August 2002 |website=The Independent}}</ref> in October of that year, the security court commuted his sentence to [[life imprisonment]].<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NAXfDgAAQBAJ&q=%C3%B6calans+sentence+commuted+to+life+in+prison&pg=PT433 |title=International and Transnational Criminal Law |last=Luban|first=David |date= 2014 |publisher=Wolters Kluwer Law & Business |isbn=978-1-4548-4850-9 |language=en}}</ref>

In an attempt to reach a verdict which was more favorable to Öcalan, he appealed at the ECHR at [[Strasbourg]], which accepted the case in June 2004.<ref>{{Cite web |date=29 June 2004 |title=29. Juni 2004 – Vor 5 Jahren: Abdullah Öcalan wird zum Tod verurteilt |url=https://www1.wdr.de/stichtag/stichtag300.html |access-date=8 October 2020 |website=WDR |language=de}}</ref> In 2005, the ECHR ruled that Turkey had violated articles 3, 5, and 6 of the [[European Convention on Human Rights|European Convention of Human Rights]] by refusing to allow Öcalan to appeal his arrest and by sentencing him to death without a fair trial.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://cmiskp.echr.coe.int/tkp197/view.asp?action=html&documentId=773602&portal=hbkm&source=externalbydocnumber&table=F69A27FD8FB86142BF01C1166DEA398649 |title=HUDOC Search Page |website=cmiskp.echr.coe.int |access-date=23 January 2015}}</ref> Öcalan's request for a retrial was refused by Turkish courts.<ref>{{cite web |date=29 March 2013 |title=There will absolutely be no retrial for Abdullah Öcalan |url=https://www.dailysabah.com/turkey/2013/03/29/justice-minister-abdullah-ocalan-will-in-no-way-be-given-a-retrial |access-date=18 August 2019 |website=[[Daily Sabah]]}}</ref>

=== Detention conditions ===
{{Main|Imprisonment of Abdullah Öcalan}}
[[File:PKK Verbot.jpg|thumb|Protest for freedom of Öcalan in Germany, 21 January 2016]]
After his capture, Öcalan was held in solitary confinement as the only prisoner on İmralı island in the [[Sea of Marmara]]. Following the commutation of the death sentence to a life sentence in 2002,<ref>{{cite web |date=4 October 2002 |title=Kurd's Death Sentence Commuted to Life Term |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-oct-04-fg-briefs4.3-story.html |access-date=10 March 2020 |website=[[Los Angeles Times]] |language=en-US}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite web |title=PKK leader Ocalan gets company in prison |url=https://www.upi.com/Top_News/Special/2009/11/17/PKK-leader-Ocalan-gets-company-in-prison/17541258484776/ |access-date=10 March 2020 |work=[[United Press International]] |language=en}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite news |last=Villelabeitia |first=Ibon |date=18 November 2009 |title=Company at last for Kurdish inmate alone for ten years |work=[[The Scotsman]] |url=http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/world/Company-at-last-for-Kurdish.5833050.jp |url-status=dead |access-date=27 November 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110813195513/http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/world/Company-at-last-for-Kurdish.5833050.jp |archive-date=13 August 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Erduran |first=Esra |date=10 November 2009 |title=Turkey building new prison for PKK members |work=[[Southeast European Times]] |url=http://www.setimes.com/cocoon/setimes/xhtml/en_GB/features/setimes/features/2009/11/10/feature-02 |url-status=live |access-date=27 November 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091119150253/http://www.setimes.com/cocoon/setimes/xhtml/en_GB/features/setimes/features/2009/11/10/feature-02 |archive-date=19 November 2009}}</ref> From 27 July 2011 until 2 May 2019 his lawyers have not been allowed to see Abdullah Öcalan.<ref name=":3">{{cite web|url=https://anfdeutsch.com/aktuelles/Oecalan-anwaelte-kontaktverbot-faktisch-in-kraft-11430|title=Öcalan-Anwälte: Kontaktverbot faktisch in Kraft|website=ANF News|language=de|access-date=17 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190517074613/https://anfdeutsch.com/aktuelles/Oecalan-anwaelte-kontaktverbot-faktisch-in-kraft-11430|archive-date=17 May 2019|url-status=dead}}</ref> From July 2011 until December 2017 his lawyers filed more than 700 appeals for visits, but all were rejected.<ref>{{cite news |title=Lawyers' appeal to visit Öcalan rejected for the 710th time |language=en |work=[[Firat News Agency]] |url=https://anfenglish.com/human-rights/lawyers-appeal-to-visit-Oecalan-rejected-for-the-710th-time-23510 |url-status=dead |access-date=17 February 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181226184202/https://anfenglish.com/human-rights/lawyers-appeal-to-visit-Oecalan-rejected-for-the-710th-time-23510 |archive-date=26 December 2018}}</ref>

There have been held regular demonstrations by the Kurdish community to raise awareness of the isolation of Öcalan.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://anfenglish.com/news/demonstrations-for-Oecalan-in-europe-28818|title=Demonstrations for Öcalan in Europe|website=ANF News|access-date=27 December 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181226133949/https://anfenglish.com/news/demonstrations-for-Oecalan-in-europe-28818|archive-date=26 December 2018|url-status=dead}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite book |last1=White |first1=Paul |title=The PKK |date=2015 |publisher=Zed Books |location=London |isbn=978-1-78360-037-3 |page=88}}</ref> 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]].<ref>{{cite news |date=12 September 2016 |title=Inhaftierter PKK-Chef: Erstmals seit zwei Jahren Familienbesuch für Öcalan |work=[[Der Spiegel]] |url=http://www.spiegel.de/politik/ausland/abdullah-oecalan-inhaftierter-pkk-chef-darf-nach-zwei-jahren-besuch-empfangen-a-1111890.html |access-date=14 January 2019}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite web|date=18 March 2014|title=Terrorism and the European Convention on Human Rights|url=https://www.echr.coe.int/Documents/FS_Terrorism_ENG.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130701145655/http://www.echr.coe.int/Documents/FS_Terrorism_ENG.pdf |archive-date=1 July 2013 |url-status=live|website=European Court of Human Rights}}</ref> 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.<ref name=":3" /> 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.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.kurdistan24.net/en/news/5c5849bf-3f4b-48fb-8c79-0f61260c3a8c|title=PKK's Ocalan visited by family in Turkish prison, first time in years |website=Kurdistan24 |language=en |access-date=14 January 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190830191129/https://www.kurdistan24.net/en/news/5c5849bf-3f4b-48fb-8c79-0f61260c3a8c |archive-date=30 August 2019 |url-status=dead}}</ref> The ban on the visitation of his lawyers was lifted in April 2019, and Öcalan saw his lawyers on 2 May 2019.<ref name=":3" />

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.<ref>{{Cite news |date=20 February 2025 |title=Imprisoned Kurdish leader urges his PKK militant group to disarm to make peace with Turkey |url=https://apnews.com/article/turkey-pkk-ocalan-peace-talks-68decd55c35fa537f04b117bc9736128 |access-date=27 February 2025 |work=Associated Press}}</ref> In response, the PKK announced that it had begun a ceasefire on 1 March.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1 March 2025 |title=Kurdish group PKK declares ceasefire with Turkey |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cgkmg3kmmero |access-date=1 March 2025 |work=BBC}}</ref>

== 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'').<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UVn7AAAAQBAJ&q=calling+%C3%B6calan+Sayin+illegal&pg=PA44 |title=The Kurdish Question in Turkey: New Perspectives on Violence, Representation, and Reconciliation |last1=Gunes|first1=Cengiz |last2=Zeydanlioglu|first2=Welat |year=2013 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-135-14063-2 |language=en}}</ref>

==The Kurdish people==

=== Involvement in peace initiatives ===
{{Turkey–PKK peace process}}
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.<ref name="PLAN">[http://www.xs4all.nl/~kicadam/pers/oud/propose.html Abdullah Öcalan proposes 7-point peace plan] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081206081617/http://www.xs4all.nl/~kicadam/pers/oud/propose.html|date=6 December 2008}} Kurdistan Informatie Centrum Nederland</ref> 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.<ref name="DIPLOMACY">[http://www.etext.org/Politics/Arm.The.Spirit/Kurdistan/PKK.ERNK.ARGK/ocalan-interview-january-1999.txt Interview with Abdullah Ocalan "Our First Priority Is Diplomacy"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081208150820/http://www.etext.org/Politics/Arm.The.Spirit/Kurdistan/PKK.ERNK.ARGK/ocalan-interview-january-1999.txt|date=8 December 2008}} ''Middle East Insight'' magazine, January 1999</ref> 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.<ref name="utopia2">{{cite web |last1=Enzinna |first1=Wes |date=24 November 2015 |title=A Dream of Secular Utopia in ISIS' Backyard |url=http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/29/magazine/a-dream-of-utopia-in-hell.html |access-date=20 May 2016 |work=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref><ref name="MYTH">[http://chris-kutschera.com/A/Ocalan%20myth.htm Kurdistan Turkey: Abdullah Ocalan, The End of a Myth?] ''The Middle East'' magazine, February 2000</ref><ref name="TEK">van Bruinessen, Martin. [https://web.archive.org/web/20090225152612/http://www.let.uu.nl/~martin.vanbruinessen/personal/publications/Kurds_after_capture_Ocalan.pdf Turkey, Europe and the Kurds after the capture of Abdullah Öcalan] 1999</ref>{{Page needed|date=December 2020}} In October 1999, eight PKK militants around the former European PKK spokesman Ali Sapan turned themselves in to Turkey on request of Öcalan.<ref name=":21">{{Cite news|last=Zaman|first=Amberin|author-link=Amberin Zaman|date=7 October 1999|title=Kurds' Surrender Awakens Turkish Doves|newspaper=[[Washington Post]]|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1999/10/07/kurds-surrender-awakens-turkish-doves/a820b501-c5ba-4e89-9a93-701f502c23af/|access-date=5 July 2021}}</ref> Depending on their treatment, the other PKK militants would turn themselves in as well, his attorney announced.<ref name=":21" /> 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.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Marcus|first=Aliza|date=2007|title=Turkey's PKK: Rise, Fall, Rise Again?|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/40210079|journal=World Policy Journal|volume=24|issue=1|page=78|doi=10.1162/wopj.2007.24.1.75|jstor=40210079|issn=0740-2775}}</ref> Öcalan called for the foundation of a "Truth and Justice Commission" by Kurdish institutions in order to investigate [[war crime]]s committed by both the PKK and Turkish security forces. A similar structure began functioning in May 2006.<ref name="CONFEDERALISM">[http://www.kurdistan-post.org/News-file-article-sid-10965.html Öldürülen imam ve 10 korucunun itibarı iade edildi] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090208184506/http://www.kurdistan-post.org/News-file-article-sid-10965.html |date=8 February 2009 }}, ANF News Agency, 30 May 2006.</ref> In March 2005, Öcalan issued the ''Declaration of Democratic confederalism in Kurdistan''<ref name="KONFEDERALIZM">{{cite news|url=http://webarsiv.hurriyet.com.tr/2005/04/04/622724.asp|access-date=9 January 2009|title=PKK ilk adına döndü|work=[[Hürriyet Daily News]]|date=9 January 2009|language=tr|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090211135159/http://webarsiv.hurriyet.com.tr/2005/04/04/622724.asp|archive-date= 11 February 2009 |url-status= live}}</ref> calling for a border-free confederation between the Kurdish regions of Southeastern Turkey (called "[[Turkish Kurdistan|Northern Kurdistan]]" by Kurds<ref name="KL">[http://www.kurdishlibrary.org/Kurdish_Library/SvenskaKB/Organisations_SWE/PKK95_Program_Tur.html PKK Program (1995)] Kurdish Library, 24 January 1995</ref>), Northeast Syria ("[[Syrian Kurdistan|Western Kurdistan]]"), Northern Iraq ("[[Iraqi Kurdistan|South Kurdistan]]"), and Northwestern Iran ("[[Iranian Kurdistan|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.<ref name="REFOUNDATION">[http://www.pkk-info.com/tr/eskisite/pkktarihi/PKK.ilk.bildirgesi.html PKK Yeniden İnşa Bildirgesi] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090206200234/http://www.pkk-info.com/tr/eskisite/pkktarihi/PKK.ilk.bildirgesi.html |date=6 February 2009 }} PKK web site, 20 April 2005</ref>

Öcalan had his lawyer Ibrahim Bilmez<ref name=LAWYER>[http://www.syracuse.com/newsflash/international/index.ssf?/base/international-34/1159461581252960.xml&storylist=International Kurdish leader calls for cease-fire] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070324121340/http://www.syracuse.com/newsflash/international/index.ssf?%2Fbase%2Finternational-34%2F1159461581252960.xml&storylist=international |date=24 March 2007 }} NewsFlash</ref> 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".<ref name=CEASE>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/5389746.stm Kurdish rebel boss in truce plea], ''[[BBC News]]''</ref> 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|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.<ref>{{cite book|last=Gunter|first=Michael|title=Out of Nowhere: The Kurds of Syria in Peace and War|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2014|isbn=978-1-84904-435-6|pages=64–65|language=en}}</ref>

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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=pkk-steps-up-attacks-in-turkey-2010-05-30|title=Turkey – PKK steps up attacks in Turkey|access-date=23 January 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://haber.ekolay.net/haber/3/1007462/Kandil-kabul-etti-Ankara-reddetti.aspx |title=Hürriyet – Haberler, Son Dakika Haberleri ve Güncel Haber |access-date=1 March 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120426185907/http://haber.ekolay.net/haber/3/1007462/Kandil-kabul-etti-Ankara-reddetti.aspx |archive-date=26 April 2012}}</ref>

In January 2013, [[2013–2015 PKK–Turkey peace process|peace negotiations]] between the PKK and the Turkish Government were initiated and from between January<ref>{{Cite web|title=Kurdish Deputies Meet Ocalan on Imrali Island|url=https://www.bianet.org/english/human-rights/143295-kurdish-deputies-meet-ocalan-on-imrali-island|access-date=25 December 2020|website=Bianet – Bagimsiz Iletisim Agi}}</ref> and March he met several times with politicians of [[Peace and Democracy Party]] (BDP) on Imralı Island.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Jailed Kurdish PKK rebel leader Ocalan expected to make ceasefire call|url=https://ekurd.net/mismas/articles/misc2013/3/turkey4587.htm|access-date=25 December 2020|website=ekurd.net}}</ref> 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 as celebrated by Kurds|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."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://de.reuters.com/article/trkei-kurden-idDEBEE92K03D20130321|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190818071915/https://de.reuters.com/article/trkei-kurden-idDEBEE92K03D20130321|url-status=dead|archive-date=18 August 2019|title=Inhaftierter Kurden-Chef stößt Tür zum Frieden auf|date=21 March 2013|work=Reuters|access-date=18 August 2019|language=de}}</ref> Soon after Öcalan's declaration, the functional head of the PKK, [[Murat Karayılan]] responded by promising to implement a ceasefire.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Hoffnung auf Frieden für die Kurden {{!}} DW {{!}} 23 March 2013|url=https://www.dw.com/de/hoffnung-auf-frieden-f%C3%BCr-die-kurden/a-16695295|access-date=25 December 2020|website=DW.COM|language=de-DE}}</ref> During the peace process, the pro-Kurdish [[Peoples' Democratic Party (Turkey)|Peoples' Democratic Party]] (HDP) entered parliament during the [[June 2015 Turkish general election|parliamentarian election of June 2015]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Yildiz |first=Güney |date=8 June 2015 |title=Turkey's HDP challenges Erdogan and goes mainstream |language=en-GB |work=[[BBC]] |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-33045124 |access-date=25 December 2020}}</ref> The ceasefire ended after in July 2015 two Turkish police officers were killed in [[Ceylanpınar|Ceylanpinar]].<ref>{{Cite web|date=16 April 2019|title=Acquittal of nine Ceylanpinar murder suspects upheld|url=https://ipa.news/2019/04/16/acquittal-of-nine-ceylanpinar-murder-suspects-upheld/|access-date=25 December 2020|website=IPA News|language=en-US}}</ref>

=== Political ideological shift ===
Since his incarceration, Öcalan has significantly changed his ideology through exposure to Western [[social theorist]]s such as [[Murray Bookchin]], [[Immanuel Wallerstein]] and [[Hannah Arendt]].<ref name=":27" /> Abandoning his old [[Marxism-Leninism|Marxism-Leninist]]<ref name=":27" /> and [[Stalinism|Stalinist]] beliefs,<ref name="utopia2"/><ref name="utopia-ecologic-social">{{cite web|author=Alex De Jong|url=https://libcom.org/history/stalinist-caterpillar-libertarian-butterfly-evolving-ideology-pkk-alex-de-jong|title=Stalinist caterpillar into libertarian butterfly? The evolving ideology of the PKK in ISIS' Backyard|work=libcom.org|date=15 March 2015|access-date=20 May 2020}}</ref><ref name="biehl dialectics" /> Öcalan fashioned his ideal society called [[democratic confederalism]].<ref name="biehl dialectics">{{cite web|url=http://new-compass.net/articles/bookchin-%C3%B6calan-and-dialectics-democracy|title=Bookchin, Öcalan, and the Dialectics of Democracy|last=Biehl|first=Janet|date=16 February 2012|publisher=New Compass|access-date=27 January 2014|archive-date=1 April 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160401092904/http://new-compass.net/articles/bookchin-%C3%B6calan-and-dialectics-democracy|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name=":27" /> 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.<ref name="biehl dialectics" />

=== Democratic confederalism ===
{{main|Democratic confederalism}}
[[Democratic confederalism]] 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."<ref name=":0">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.</ref> 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".<ref name=":0" /> 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.'<ref name=":0" /> [[Feminism]], [[ecology]], and [[direct democracy]] are essential in democratic confederalism.<ref>{{cite book|title=Democratic Confederalism|last=Öcalan|first=Abdullah|publisher=Transmedia Publishing Ltd.|year=2011|isbn=978-3-941012-47-9|location=London|page=21}}</ref>

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 (Bookchin)|social ecology]], the PKK adopted Öcalan's proposal and began to form assemblies.<ref name="utopia2"/> It became also the ideology of the [[Democratic Union Party (Syria)|Democratic Union Party]] (PYD) and is applied in the [[Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria]] (AANES).<ref name=":27" />

=== 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 [[Housewife|housewifization]] of women.<ref name=":26">{{Cite book |last=Käser |first=Isabel |title=The Kurdish Women's Freedom Movement |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |year=2021 |isbn=978-1-316-51974-5 |page=130 |doi=10.1017/9781009022194.005|s2cid=242495844 }}</ref> He deems the woman often as being trapped in a situation where she accepts traditional gender roles and a disadvantaged relationship with a man.<ref name=":26" />

== Personal life ==
According to his own account, while his father is Kurdish, his mother is Turkmen.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Pişmanım, asmayın|url=https://www.hurriyet.com.tr/gundem/pismanim-asmayin-39064585|access-date=24 November 2020|website=www.hurriyet.com.tr|date=23 February 1999 |language=tr}}</ref> According to some sources, Öcalan's grandmother was an ethnic Turk.<ref>Blood and Belief: The Pkk and the Kurdish Fight for Independence, by Aliza Marcus, p. 15, 2007</ref><ref>Perceptions: journal of international affairs – Vol. 4, no. 1, SAM (Center), 1999, p. 142</ref> Öcalan's mother, Esma Öcalan (Uveys)<ref name=":22">{{Cite book|last1=Cigerli|first1=Sabri|title=Ocalan et le PKK: Les mutations de la question kurde en Turquie et au moyen-orient|last2=Saout|first2=Didier Le|date=2005|publisher=Maisonneuve et Larose|isbn=978-2-7068-1885-1|page=187|language=fr}}</ref> 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.<ref name="BandB">{{cite book|last=Marcus|first=Aliza|title=Blood and Belief: The PKK and the Kurdish Fight for Independence|year= 2009|publisher=NYU Press|isbn=978-0-8147-9587-3|pages=16–17|language=en}}</ref> Like many [[Kurds in Turkey]], Öcalan was raised speaking [[Turkish language|Turkish]]; according to Amikam Nachmani, lecturer at the [[Bar-Ilan University]] in Israel, Öcalan did not know [[Kurdish language|Kurdish]] when he met him in 1991. Nachmani: "''He [Öcalan] told me that he speaks Turkish, gives orders in Turkish, and thinks in Turkish."''<ref>Turkey: Facing a New Millennium: Coping With Intertwined Conflicts, Amikam Nachmani, p. 210, 2003</ref> In 1978 Öcalan married Kesire Yildirim, who he had met at the Ankara University<ref>{{Cite book|last=Marcus|first=Aliza|title=Blood and Belief: The PKK and the Kurdish Fight for Independence|publisher=NYU Press|year=2012|isbn=978-0-8147-5956-1|pages=42|language=en}}</ref> and was of a better household than the regular revolutionaries around Öcalan.<ref name=":20">Marcus, Aliza (2012) p. 43</ref> They had a difficult marriage with reportedly many disputes and discussions.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Marcus|first=Aliza|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xlITCgAAQBAJ|title=Blood and Belief: The PKK and the Kurdish Fight for Independence|publisher=[[NYU Press]]|year=2012|isbn=978-0-8147-5956-1|pages=42|language=en}}</ref> In 1988, while representing the PKK in [[Athens]], [[Greece]], his wife unsuccessfully attempted to overthrow Öcalan, following which Yildirim went underground.<ref name=":20" />

After his sister Havva was married to a man from another village in an [[arranged marriage]], he felt regret. This event led Öcalan to his policies towards the [[liberation of women]] from the traditional suppressed female role.<ref name="BandB" /> Öcalan's brother [[Osman Ocalan|Osman]] became a PKK commander until he defected from the PKK with several others to establish the Patriotic and Democratic Party of Kurdistan.<ref name="CK">{{cite journal|last=Kutschera|first=Chris|date=July 2005|title=PKK dissidents accuse Abdullah Ocalan|url=http://www.chris-kutschera.com/A/pkk_dissidents.htm|url-status=dead|journal=The Middle East Magazine|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090207012503/http://www.chris-kutschera.com/A/pkk_dissidents.htm|archive-date=7 February 2009|access-date=22 December 2008}}</ref> His other brother, Mehmet Öcalan, is a member of the pro-Kurdish [[Peace and Democracy Party]] (BDP).<ref>[https://archive.today/20120701122531/http://archive.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=bdp-wants-autonomy-for-kurds-in-new-constitution-2011-09-04 "BDP wants autonomy for Kurds in new Constitution"], ''[[Hürriyet Daily News]]'', 4 September 2011</ref> Fatma Öcalan is the sister of Abdullah Öcalan<ref>{{cite web|title=Travel ban for the sister and brother of Öcalan|url=https://anfenglish.com/news/travel-ban-for-the-sister-and-brother-of-Oecalan-33133|access-date=6 April 2020|website=ANF News|language=en}}</ref> and [[Dilek Öcalan]], a former parliamentarian of the [[Peoples' Democratic Party (Turkey)|HDP]], is his niece.<ref>{{cite web|date=1 March 2018|title=HDP MP Dilek Öcalan Sentenced to 2 Years, 6 Months in Prison|url=https://m.bianet.org/english/politics/194777-hdp-mp-dilek-ocalan-sentenced-to-2-years-6-months-in-prison|website=Bianet}}{{Dead link|date=June 2020|bot=InternetArchiveBot|fix-attempted=yes}}</ref> [[Ömer Öcalan]], a current member of parliament for the HDP, is his nephew.<ref>{{cite web|title=HDP Urfa candidate, Öcalan: We are a house for all peoples|url=https://anfenglish.com/news/hdp-urfa-candidate-Oecalan-we-are-a-house-for-all-peoples-27302|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200301070341/https://anfenglish.com/news/hdp-urfa-candidate-Oecalan-we-are-a-house-for-all-peoples-27302|archive-date=1 March 2020|access-date=14 January 2019|website=ANF News|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Different identities enter Parliament with the HDP|url=https://anfenglish.com/features/different-identies-enter-parliament-with-the-hdp-27719|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200301070342/https://anfenglish.com/features/different-identies-enter-parliament-with-the-hdp-27719|archive-date=1 March 2020|access-date=14 January 2019|website=ANF News|language=en}}</ref>

== Honorary citizenships ==
Several localities have awarded him with an honorary citizenship:{{Div col|colwidth=15em|content=*[[Palermo]]<ref name=":1a">{{cite web|url=https://ahvalnews.com/italy-turkey/ocalan-factor-italian-debate|title='Öcalan factor' in the Italian debate|website=Ahval|access-date=17 July 2022|archive-date=22 October 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181022153259/https://ahvalnews.com/italy-turkey/ocalan-factor-italian-debate|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* [[Olympia, Greece|Olympia]]<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.spiegel.de/spiegel/print/d-10630215.html|title=Spiegel-Gesspräch : 'Öcalan war eine heiße Kartoffel' – Der Spiegel 13/1999|website=Der Spiegel|date=28 March 1999|last1=Zand|first1=Bernhard|last2=Höhler|first2=Gerd}}</ref>
* [[Naples]]<ref name=":1a"/>
* [[Castel del Giudice]]<ref name=":6a">{{cite web|url=https://www.ilbenecomune.it/2018/05/02/il-molise-per-il-kurdistan-e-per-la-pace-castelbottaccio-e-castel-del-giudice-danno-la-cittadinanza-onoraria-ad-abdullah-ocalan/|title=Il Molise per il Kurdistan e per la pace: *Castelbottaccio e Castel del Giudice danno la cittadinanza onoraria ad Abdullah Öcalan|date=2 May 2018 |language=it-IT |access-date=22 October 2018}}</ref>
* [[Castelbottaccio]]<ref name=":6a" />
* [[Pinerolo]]<ref name=":1" />
* [[Martano]]<ref name=":2a">{{cite web |title=Martano: cittadinanza onoraria a Ocalan|url=http://www.ilgallo.it/dai-comuni/martano/martano-cittadinanza-onoraria-a-ocalan/|periodical=Il Gallo|date=14 February 2017|language=de|access-date=22 October 2018}}</ref>
* [[Reggio Emilia]]<ref name=":1a"/><ref name=":1" />
* [[Palagonia]]<ref name=":2a" />
* [[Riace]]<ref name=":2a" />
* [[Berceto]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://gazzettadellemilia.it/cronaca/item/25274-berceto-pr-cittadinanza-onoraria-per-abdullah-öcalan.html|title=Berceto (PR) Cittadinanza onoraria per Abdullah Öcalan|website=Gazzetta dell'Emilia |language=it-it|access-date=6 October 2019}}</ref>
* [[Fossalto]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://anfdeutsch.com/aktuelles/protest-gegen-tuerkischen-druck-auf-italienische-stadtverwaltungen-17805|title=Protest gegen türkischen Druck auf italienische Stadtverwaltungen|website=ANF News|language=de|access-date=10 March 2020}}</ref>}}

== Publications ==
{{Commons category|Abdullah Öcalan}}
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.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Marcus|first=Aliza|title=Blood and Belief: The PKK and the Kurdish Fight for Independence|date=2007|publisher=NYU Press|isbn=978-0-8147-5711-6|page=191|language=en}}</ref>

=== Books ===
* ''Interviews and Speeches.'' London: Kurdistan Solidarity Committee; Kurdistan Information Centre, 1991. 46 p.<!-- No ISBN -->
* {{cite web |url=http://www.geocities.com/kurdifi/ocelan.html |title=Translation of his 1999 defense in court |access-date=24 April 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071020183517/http://www.geocities.com/kurdifi/ocelan.html |archive-date=20 October 2007 |url-status=dead}}
* ''[http://www.freeocalan.org/books/#book/prison-writings-i Prison Writings: The Roots of Civilisation.]'' London; Ann Arbor, MI: Pluto, 2007. {{ISBN|978-0-7453-2616-0}}.
* ''[http://www.freeocalan.org/books/#book/prison-writings-ii Prison Writings Volume II: The PKK and the Kurdish Question in the 21st Century.]'' London: Transmedia, 2011. {{ISBN|978-0-9567514-0-9}}.
* ''[http://www.freeocalan.org/books/#book/democratic-confederalism Democratic Confederalism.]'' London: Transmedia, 2011. {{ISBN|978-3-941012-47-9}}.
* ''[http://www.freeocalan.org/books/#book/the-road-map-to-negotiations Prison Writings III: The Road Map to Negotiations.]'' Cologne: International Initiative, 2012. {{ISBN|978-3-941012-43-1}}.
* ''[http://www.freeocalan.org/books/#book/liberating-life-womans-revolution Liberating life: Women's Revolution.]'' Cologne, Germany: International Initiative Edition, 2013. {{ISBN|978-3-941012-82-0}}.
* ''[http://www.freeocalan.org/books/#/book/prison-writtings-iv Manifesto for a Democratic Civilization, Volume 1.]'' Porsgrunn, Norway: New Compass, 2015. {{ISBN|978-82-93064-42-8}}.
* ''Defending a Civilisation.''{{when|date=October 2017}}
* ''[http://www.freeocalan.org/books/#/book/the-political-thought-of-abdullah-ocalan The Political Thought of Abdullah Öcalan.]'' London: Pluto Press, 2017. {{ISBN|978-0-7453-9976-8}}.
* ''[http://www.freeocalan.org/books/#/book/capitalism Manifesto for a Democratic Civilization, Volume 2.]'' Porsgrunn, Norway: New Compass, 2017. {{ISBN|978-82-93064-48-0}}

== See also ==
* [[Kurdistan Free Life Party]]
* [[Yalçın Küçük]]
* [[Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria|Rojava]]
* [[PKK]]
* [[Kurdistan]]
{{Reflist|group=notes}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== Further reading ==
* Kaminaris, Spiros Ch. (June 1999). [https://ciaotest.cc.columbia.edu/olj/meria/meria99_kas01.html "Greece and the Middle East"]. ''Middle East Review of International Affairs'', Vol. 3, No. 2.
* Özcan, Ali Kemal (2005). ''[http://ndl.ethernet.edu.et/bitstream/123456789/51680/1/37.pdf.pdf Turkey's Kurds: A Theoretical Analysis of the PKK and Abdullah Ocalan]''. London & New York: Routledge. {{ISBN|0-415-36687-9}}.
* Parkinson, Joe, and Ayla Albayrak (15 March 2013). [https://web.archive.org/web/20171010112034/https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424127887323293704578333533405433110 "Kurd Locked in Solitary Cell Holds Key to Turkish Peace"]. ''[[The Wall Street Journal]]'' (archived copy).

== External links ==
{{Wikiquote|Abdullah Öcalan}}
* [http://ocalanbooks.com/ Books by Abdullah Öcalan]
* [https://www.freeocalan.org/main "Freedom for Abdullah Öcalan – Peace in Kurdistan" International Initiative]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/280453.stm Special report: The Ocalan file], ''[[BBC News]]'', 26 November 1999.

{{Communism|state=collapsed}}{{Kurdish–Turkish conflict}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ocalan, Abdullah}}
[[Category:Abdullah Öcalan]]
[[Category:1949 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:21st-century philosophers]]
[[Category:21st-century Kurdish writers]]
[[Category:Ankara University Faculty of Political Sciences alumni]]
[[Category:Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights]]
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[[Category:Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights]]
[[Category:Former Marxists]]
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[[Category:Kurdish socialists]]
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[[Category:Male feminists]]
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[[Category:Öcalan family]]
[[Category:People barred from public office]]
[[Category:People extradited from Kenya]]
[[Category:People extradited to Turkey]]
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[[Category:Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by Turkey]]
[[Category:Socialist feminists]]
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[[Category:Turkish people imprisoned on terrorism charges]]
[[Category:Turkish people of Kurdish descent]]
[[Category:Turkish-language writers]]
[[Category:Political prisoners in Turkey]]
[[Category:People convicted of treason against Turkey]]