Who Is Abdullah Öcalan? Age, Biography, and Wiki
Abdullah Öcalan, born on April 4, 1948 (or April 4, 1949, as some sources suggest), is a prominent political figure in Turkey and the founder of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). Öcalan has been a significant player in the Kurdish nationalist movement and has spent much of his life advocating for Kurdish rights. By 2025, he is 77 years old and continues to be a polarizing figure both in Turkey and internationally.
| Occupation | Revolutionaries |
|---|---|
| Date of Birth | April 4, 1948 or April 4, 1949 |
| Age | 76 Years |
| Birth Place | Ömerli, Turkey |
| Horoscope | |
| Country | Turkey |
Popularity
Abdullah Öcalan's Popularity over time
Height, Weight & Measurements
While specific details about Abdullah Öcalan's height and weight have not been widely publicized, he is generally described as maintaining an average build. Any specific numbers here are speculative, focusing on his historical presence rather than physical metrics.
Family, Dating & Relationship Status
Given Abdullah Öcalan's political stature, details about his personal relationships have always been kept somewhat private. As of 2025, his marital status remains unknown, and he is not publicly known to have a boyfriend or girlfriend. His family life is also characterized by its secrecy, as many of his relatives have distanced themselves from his political life.
Ömerli had a diverse population of Kurds, Turks, and Armenians, who were all integrated among each other. Öcalan claimed that his father was Kurdish, while his mother was Turkmen. Öcalan's maternal grandmother was a known Turk. While some sources report his date of birth as 4 April 1949, no official birth records exist.
He is the oldest of seven children. Öcalan's father was poor even by local standards, and he once said that there was "always fighting" and "an overwhelming unhappiness" in his family.
Net Worth and Salary
Estimating Abdullah Öcalan's net worth is challenging due to his long-term imprisonment and limited public financial disclosures. It is widely reported that he does not accumulate wealth in the conventional sense; however, given his influential status in the Kurdish movement, he may have a support network that helps sustain him financially.
Career, Business and Investments
Abdullah Öcalan’s career began with the establishment of the PKK in 1978. Since then, he has been a key figure in the fight for Kurdish autonomy and rights in Turkey. Following his capture in 1999, Öcalan’s focus shifted towards political discourse and negotiation, bolstering his theoretical contributions to the Kurdish liberation movement. His writings and political ideologies continue to shape the PKK and the broader Kurdish struggle.
In 1998 the Turkish government requested the extradition of Öcalan from Italy, where he applied for political asylum upon his arrival. He was detained by the Italian authorities due to an arrest warrant issued by Germany. But Italy did not extradite him to Germany, who refused to hold a trial on Öcalan in its country.
The German chancellor Gerhard Schröder as well as the Minister of the Interior Otto Schily preferred that Öcalan would be tried by an unspecified "European Court". Italy also didn't extradite him to Turkey.
The Italian prime minister Massimo D'Alema announced it was contrary to Italian law to extradite someone to a country where the defendant is threatened with a capital punishment.
But Italy also didn't want Öcalan to stay, and pulled several diplomatic strings to compel him to leave the country, which was accomplished on 16 January when he departed to Nizhny Novgorod in hope to find a safe haven in Russia.
But in Russia he was not as much welcomed as in October, and he had to wait for a week at the airport of Strigino International Airport in Nizhny Novgorod. From Russia, he took an airplane from Saint Petersburg to Greece where he arrived in Athens upon the invitation of Nikolas Naxakis, a retired Admiral on 29 January 1999.
He spent the night as a guest of the popular Greek author Voula Damianakou in Nea Makri.
Social Network
While Öcalan is currently imprisoned, his ideology has cultivated a robust following. He maintains a considerable influence over various social media platforms, where supporters share his views and discuss his impact on the Kurdish movement. Fans and followers often rally around hashtags promoting Kurdish rights, reflecting his enduring legacy.
Following this, Öcalan attempted to travel to The Hague, to pursue a settlement of his legal situation at the International Criminal Court, but the Netherlands would not let his plane land and sent him back to Greece where he landed on the island Corfu in the Ionean Sea. Öcalan then decided to fly to Nairobi at the invitation of Greek diplomats.
At that time he was defended by Britta Böhler, a high-profile German attorney who argued that the crimes he was accused of would have to be proven in court and attempted to reach that the International Court in The Hague would assume the case.
Education
Abdullah Öcalan received an education in political science and later explored various Marxist and nationalist ideologies, which deeply influenced his political philosophy. His understanding of guerrilla warfare, strategy, and political theory have shaped not only the PKK but also the broader narrative surrounding Kurdish identity and rights.
In 2025, Abdullah Öcalan remains a figure that continues to evoke discussions surrounding autonomy, identity, and rights, ensuring he stays relevant in both Kurdish and global political conversations.
Abdullah Öcalan spoke only Kurdish until elementary school, which he attended in a neighboring village. After he began school, he learned Turkish and began assimilating. He was impacted by Turkish nationalist school curriculum and dreamed of joining the Turkish army when he grew up.
He applied to a military high school for future commissioned officers, but had failed the admission exam. Rejected from the military high school, Öcalan enrolled in a vocational high school in Ankara in 1966. During high school, he attended anti-communist meetings, and occasionally Pro-Kurdish meetings set up by left-wing circles.
Öcalan did not think about his Kurdish identity in a political way until he was nearly 20 years old. Öcalan was also a very conservative Muslim in his youth and admired Necip Fazıl Kısakürek. After graduating in 1969, Öcalan began working at the Title Deeds Office of Diyarbakır. It was at this time his political affiliation began to reform.
He was relocated one year later to Istanbul where he participated in the meetings of the Revolutionary Cultural Eastern Hearths (DDKO), a Kurdish organization. Later, he entered the Istanbul Law Faculty but after the first year transferred to Ankara University to study political science.
