Demonstrators displaying flags bearing the effigy of PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan. (Credit: Delil Souleiman/AFP)
In Turkey, a growing rumor is gaining traction: Abdullah Öcalan, one of the founders of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which Ankara designated a terrorist organization, could be released on Feb. 15 if he manages to persuade the Kurdish group — engaged in a decades-long fight for Kurdish autonomy — to lay down its arms.The date is no coincidence. It marks the anniversary of Öcalan’s arrest on Feb. 15, 1999, in Kenya, after which he was imprisoned in Turkey and sentenced to life in prison.Twenty-six years later, as the conflict between the Turkish state and the PKK has claimed more than 40,000 lives, an unexpected move from the leader of Turkey’s far-right, Devlet Bahçeli — a key pillar of the ruling coalition — set a reconciliation process in motion last October.Once an advocate for the death penalty against “Apo,” as Öcalan is...
In Turkey, a growing rumor is gaining traction: Abdullah Öcalan, one of the founders of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which Ankara designated a terrorist organization, could be released on Feb. 15 if he manages to persuade the Kurdish group — engaged in a decades-long fight for Kurdish autonomy — to lay down its arms.The date is no coincidence. It marks the anniversary of Öcalan’s arrest on Feb. 15, 1999, in Kenya, after which he was imprisoned in Turkey and sentenced to life in prison.Twenty-six years later, as the conflict between the Turkish state and the PKK has claimed more than 40,000 lives, an unexpected move from the leader of Turkey’s far-right, Devlet Bahçeli — a key pillar of the ruling coalition — set a reconciliation process in motion last October.Once an advocate for the death penalty against...
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