Who is Abdullah Öcalan? The 'Uncle' of All Kurdish Nationalists

After twelve years without any public image of Abdullah Öcalan, Turkish authorities on Thursday allowed the release of a photograph of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) leader. A thin Öcalan with a thick, greying moustache appeared seated at a table alongside leaders of the Kurdish DEM party. The reason? The PKK founder, imprisoned in a high-security prison since 1999, wrote a one-and-a-half-page letter calling for an end to armed struggle and the dissolution of the group.

The letter was read on camera by former deputy Ahmet Türk, and for the first time, all Turkish channels broadcast a lengthy message in Kurdish, the country's second language, without dubbing or subtitles. The PKK has demanded the release of its leader in return, so he can lead the disarmament.

At 75, having spent the last 25 years imprisoned and isolated, Öcalan has moderated his rhetoric, shifting from fighting for an independent state for Turkey's Kurdish minority to seeking greater rights for Kurds within the country.

About thirty million Kurds live divided among four of the Middle East's strongest states in a territory as large as the Iberian Peninsula. This "invisible people," as Manuel Martorell describes them in his book 'Kurdistan, Journey to the Forbidden Country,' share a common language, traditions, and since 1949, Abdullah Öcalan. Born in Ömerli, a Kurdish village in Turkey's southeastern province of Şanlıurfa, the PKK founder is known as 'Apo' (uncle) and is as adored among the Kurds of Turkey and Syria as he is respected by those in Iran and Iraq. His struggle has inspired resistance movements against the authorities in Damascus, Tehran, and Baghdad.

The son of a Turkish mother and a Kurdish father, he was a brilliant student who became an activist when he went to Ankara University to study Political Science and came into contact with communist organizations. The PKK was founded as a Marxist-inspired group in the late seventies in Diyarbakır and embraced armed struggle in 1984. From that year until 1999, it was involved in the bloodiest moments of a conflict that, after four decades, has left more than 40,000 dead, according to figures provided by Turkey.

"We are not in favor of violence to solve problems," he said in 1988 in his first interview with Turkish journalists. But it was necessary, he said, "to prevent our national identity from being completely destroyed." Lebanon, where the first guerrilla training camp was established, and especially Syria, became his refuge to escape Turkish security forces. From Syrian territory, he consolidated a party with the aim of uniting the Kurds of Turkey, Iran, Syria, and Iraq to form the 'Greater Kurdistan,' trained militiamen, and organized operations and attacks.

In 1998, Ankara threatened to attack Syria if Damascus did not hand over 'Apo,' and he was forced to seek asylum abroad. He passed through Greece, Russia, and Italy but found no support, and finally, Turkish special forces, with the support of Mossad and the CIA, captured him in Kenya in February 1999 and took him back to Turkey to imprison him on the island of İmralı. His capture sparked massive demonstrations, and in some, PKK supporters even self-immolated, showing the enormous cult of personality he had achieved within the party.

Öcalan was sentenced to death by hanging "for treason," but his sentence was commuted to life imprisonment in 2002 because Ankara abolished the death penalty in its bid to join the European Union. Since then, he has remained isolated on an island in the Sea of Marmara, south of Istanbul, from where he issues statements when Turkey allows it.

After his arrest, there were initial doubts about his ability to continue leading the resistance, but over the years, his capacity and charisma became clear even while imprisoned. His face is the banner that presides over all protests, and his name is the Kurdish nationalist war cry. His photograph is omnipresent in Kurdish mobilizations. There appears a vigorous 'Apo,' dressed in military attire with a thick black moustache, with the red star of the PKK flag in the background. His figure goes far beyond that of a political and military leader and is idolized among Kurdish nationalists.

The call for the dissolution of the PKK tests his influence over the commanders of the group's factions 25 years after his arrest. Turkey plays the 'Apo' card to neutralize its great enemy of recent decades. The "child killer" and "public enemy number one," as the Turkish press nicknames him, becomes the most important weapon to neutralize the PKK.