Abdullah Öcalan

Abdullah Öcalan is a Turkish-born Kurdish political figure, revolutionary, and founding member of the militant Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). Born in Şanlıurfa Province, Turkey, he studied political science in Ankara before helping establish the PKK in 1978 and leading its armed campaign from 1984. Following years based in Syria, he was captured in Nairobi, Kenya in 1999 by Turkish intelligence and subsequently imprisoned on İmralı island in Turkey, where he remains incarcerated under an aggravated life sentence. From prison, Öcalan has published multiple works and shifted toward advocating for political solutions and democratic confederalism.