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Abdullah Ocalan, "charismatic leader" or "bloody murderer"?

ANKARA, Jan 17 (AFP) - Abdullah Ocalan, the leader of the separatist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) whose departure from Italy for an undisclosed destination has caused a rift between Italy and Turkey, is viewed as a "bloody murderer" by Ankara but a "charismatic leader" by Kurdish separatists.

Called "Apo", the hulking 49-year-old with fiery eyes and a  bushy black moustache has been the iron-fisted leader of the PKK since 1978, when he created the Marxist-Leninist party with a group of fellow students.
  
The party, known initially as "Apocular" (The Apoists), has  since waged an armed battle for the creation of a "Greater Kurdistan", an independent Kurdish state in southeast Turkey incorporating Kurds from Turkey, Syria, Iran and Iraq. It would count 20 million inhabitants and inevitably upset the status quo in the region.

Ocalan was born into a peasant family with six children in a village on the Syrian border. He became politically active during his university years in Ankara, where he studied political science. He was imprisoned for seven months in 1972 for "pro-Kurd activities".

He fled Turkey before the September 1980 military coup and has lived in exile since 1981, most often in Damascus or in the Lebanese plains under Syrian control, where he set up his headquarters and a training camp.

On August 15, 1984, "Apo" launched his armed struggle against Ankara, choosing arms over talks for the Kurdish cause so as not to "waste time with political debates". He declared a unilateral ceasefire in March 1993 in exchange for the start of political talks with Ankara, but it ended just two months later.

In December 1995, Ocalan declared another ceasefire, and again on September 1, 1998, but the Turkish government has rejected them all -- Ankara has rejected any talks even if the PKK lays down its arms.

The PKK's operations often consist of attacks on Kurdish villages that refuse to cooperate. More than 31,000 people have been
killed in the conflict. Ankara has called "Apo" a "bloody murderer" and termed his organisation as "terrorist".

The PKK enjoyed widespread popular support in its debut years, which has since dwindled along with its strength and influence in the region, mainly due to Turkish army offensives.

 

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