WHO IS ABDULLAH ÖCALAN ?
Mr.No
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WHO IS ABDULLAH ÖCALAN ?
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Abdullah Öcalan was born in the province of ?anl urfa in 1949. He speaks
Turkish and has only a poor grasp of some Kurdish dialects. He had a
conventional education and his original wish was to be an officer in the
Turkish Army. He failed the entrance examination for the military academy. He
did, however, gain admission in 1971 to the Ankara University Political
Sciences Faculty. There, he joined the underground movements trying to
overthrow Turkey s parliamentary system. He was expelled from the university
for non-attendance and his illegal activities.
The cell of terrorists which he controlled soon broke links with other groups.
It was known for its use of extreme violence and the "Apocu s" (Followers of
Abdullah Öcalan), as the PKK was called in its early days, had a special
trademark: they hacked off the noses of their opponents. In the late 1970 s,
Öcalan collaborated closely with the Soviet Union and with Syria which were
attempting to create political turmoil in Turkey. In 1980, Öcalan fled to
Syria. He began to use Syrian facilities, including camps in the Bekaa Valley,
Lebanese territory under Syrian control, to train terrorist groups for cross-
border terrorist attacks against targets in Turkey. He started to inject an
ethnic dimension to his terrorist activities, though this usually had to be
imposed on local populations by violent means, including the kidnapping young
men at gun point and then forcing them to undergo indoctrination and join his
movement. In August 1984, Öcalan s terrorist groups began attacking Turkish
police stations and similar targets in the southeastern provinces north of the
border with Syria and Iraq.
The PKK operates along the familiar lines of traditional communist parties and
carries out terrorist activities under the rigid direction of its Central
Committee. Both its "political" and "military" wings are controlled directly
by Öcalan. As its sole head, Öcalan, has callously masterminded thousands of
PKK s terrorist activities against Turkey and its people. As such, he has been
responsible for thousands of deaths, kidnappings, mutilations and attacks on
innocent people during his long years as a professional terrorist and
murderer.
In October 1998, Turkey warned Syria that it would take action unless it
ceased its support for Öcalan and PKK terrorism. It formally requested the
extradition of Öcalan to Turkey. As a result, Öcalan was compelled to leave
Syria where he had been given shelter for almost two decades. Furthermore, by
an agreement signed between the two countries on October 20, 1998 in
Adana/Turkey, the Syrian Government for the first time designated the PKK as a
terrorist organization, and pledged not to allow the presence and the
activities of the PKK on its territory. Later, Öcalan was forced to leave
Moscow, where he had escaped from Syria, following political and diplomatic
contacts between Turkey and the Russian Federation.
Öcalan was apprehended in Rome while trying to illegally enter Italy with a
false passport on November 12, 1998. As the British Government put it,
Öcalan s arrest was "a significant advance in the international community s
fight against terrorism."
Öcalan is not only a terrorist but also a common criminal, being sought by the
Turkish courts under charges of homicide and incitement to homicide. There is
thus a red corner bulletin for him issued by the Interpol. In accordance with
a court decision given in 1990, Germany also had an arrest warrant on Öcalan
again for homicide and incitement to homicide.
All democratic, law-abiding countries as well as international institutions
are obligated to take a consistent and firm stance in combating terrorism and
bringing terrorists to justice. Under obligations and commitments within the
framework of the United Nations, the Council of Europe, the OSCE, the NATO,
and the EU, no country or government can provide terrorists with safe-haven or
evade its responsibilities in the efforts to eliminate terrorism. Therefore,
Öcalan should never be granted political asylum anywhere and he has to be
extradited to Turkey to face trial for his crimes against Turkish citizens.
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