By Arian Mufid:

15th February marked the 21st anniversary of the leader of the PKK, Abdullah Ocalan’s imprisonment. Abdullah Ocalan was kidnapped by the Kenyan state who were paid and motivated by a joint operation involving several state intelligence services such as MIT, CIA and Mossad. Abdullah Ocalan is nicknamed ‘APO’ (meaning uncle in Kurdish), coined by his followers as a term of endearment for their leader. Born 4th July 1949 in Urfa to a religious family, according to his brother, Serok Apo always stood out amongst his siblings for his unique personality and different ideas. From his studies at his local mosque he was introduced to the writings of the Islamic philosophy Said Nauracy whose works he was thoroughly impressed by.

On moving to Ankara, aged 11, the religious influence on his life disappeared. He completed his primary and secondary school in Ankara. In 1966, he finished his degree in sociology and continued on to study Law during the 1970s at Ankara University. In 1972, Apo entered the College of Political and Economic Science where he was influenced by Marxist Leninist ideas which he utilised as an ideology to counteract the policies of the racist Turkish state. In 1972, due to his political affiliation with the Turkish left wing, Apo was sentenced to seven months in jail.

In the 1970s, during a family visit, his father warned and advised Apo to abstain from involvement and advocation of Leftist politics since the Turkish state apparatus is ruthless in surpressing these political ideas and beliefs. On his second visit home with Jamel Bayek, his father warned him again to never use the words Kurd and Kurdistan, in fear of what severe punishment his son would face at the hands of the Turkish state. On one occasion he told his son that being an advocate of the Leftist movement is less risky than being affiliated with Kurdish political aspirations as the punishment for the latter is far worse. From that moment on, Ocalan realised how unjustly criminalised the Kurdish identity is in Turkey. He told his dad, “To be a Kurd is hard, but to escape from it is unethical. I am your son and don’t want to accept that ”. Ocalan also told Jamil Bayek ‘My father understands that to be a Kurd in Turkey is more dangerous than to be left wing or communist’.