Abdullah Öcalan

Abdullah Öcalan (born 4 April 1948), Kurdish founder of the organization called Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in 1978. The PKK is listed as a terrorist organization internationally by a number of states and organizations, including the United States and the European Union. Öcalan was captured in Nairobi and extradited to the Turkish security force, and sentenced to death under Article 125 of the Turkish Penal Code, which concerns the formation of armed gangs. The sentence was commuted to aggravated life imprisonment when Turkey abolished the death penalty in support of its bid to be admitted to membership in the European Union. From 1999 until 2009, he was the sole prisoner on the İmralı island, in the Sea of Marmara. Öcalan admitted...