Diyarbakır Amed / Amid
—  City  —
A view of Diyarbakır's city center
Diyarbakır Location of Diyarbakır within Turkey.
Coordinates: 37°55′N 40°14′E / 37.91°N 40.24°E / 37.91; 40.24
Country	Turkey
Region	Southeastern Anatolia
Province	Diyarbakır
Government
• Mayor	Osman Baydemir (Peace and Democracy Party)
Elevation	675 m (2,215 ft)
Population (2010)
• Urban	843,460
Time zone	EET (UTC+2)
• Summer (DST)	EEST[1] (UTC+3)
Postal code	21x xx
Area code(s)	(0090)+ 412
Licence plate	21
Website	[1]

Diyarbakır (Ottoman Turkish دیاربکر, Diyâr-ı Bekr; Armenian: Դիարբեքիր, Diarbeqir; Kurdish ئامه‌د, Amed; anc. Amida; Syriac: ܐܡܝܕ, Amid ) is one of the largest cities in southeastern Turkey. Situated on the banks of the River Tigris, it is the administrative capital of the Diyarbakır Province and with a population of about 843,460 it is the second largest city in Turkey's South-eastern Anatolia region, after Gaziantep. Within Turkey.

Etymology[link]

The name of the city is inscribed as Amid on the sheath of a sword from the Assyrian period, and the same name was used in other contemporary Syriac and Arabic works.^[2] The Romans and Byzantines called the city Amida.^[2] Among the Artukid and Akkoyunlu it was known as "Black Amid" (Kara Amid) for the dark color of its walls, while in the Zafername, or eulogies in praise of military victories, it is called "Black Fortress" (Kara Kale).^[2] In the Book of Dede Korkut and some other Turkish works it appears as Kara Hamid.^[2]

Origin of the current name[link]

Following the Arab conquests in the 7th century, the Arab Bekr tribe occupied this region,^[2] which became known as became known as the Diyar-ı Bekir (landholdings of the Bekr tribe).^[3][4] In 1937, Atatürk had the city renamed Diyarbakır, which remains its current name.^[2]

History[link]

Antiquity[link]

Amid(a) was the capital of the Aramean kingdom Bet-Zamani from the 13th century B.C. onwards, and later part of the Neo Assyrian Empire. Amid is the name used in the Syriac sources, which also testifies to the fact that it once was the seat of the Church of the East Patriarch and thus an original Assyrian/Syriac stronghold that produced many famous Assyrian theologians and Patriarchs. Some of them found their final resting place in St. Mary Church. There are many relics in the Church, such as the bones of the apostle Thomas and St. Jacob of Sarug (d. 521).

The city was called Amida when the region was under the rule of the Roman (from 66 BC) and the succeeding Byzantine Empires.^[5]

From 189 BC to 384 AD, the area to the east and south of present-day Diyarbakır, was ruled by a kingdom known as Corduene.^[6]

In 359, Shapur II of Persia captured Amida after a siege of 73 days. The Roman soldiers and a large part of the population of the town were massacred by the Persians. The siege is vividly described by the Roman historian Ammianus Marcellinus who was an eyewitness of the event and survived the massacre by escaping from the town.^[7]

Armenian historians at one time hypothesized that Diyarbakır was the site of the ancient Armenian city of Tigranakert, (pronounced Dikranagerd in the Western Armenian dialect) and by the 19th century the Armenian inhabitants were referring to the city as Dikranagerd. Scholarly research has shown that while the ancient Armenian city was close by, it was not in the same place. The real location of Dikranagerd remains the subject of debate, but Armenians who trace their ancestry to Diyarbakır continue to refer to themselves as "Dikranagerdtsi" (native of Dikranagerd.) The "Dikranagerdtsis" or Armenians of Diyarbakır were noted for having one of the most unusual dialects of Armenian, one difficult for a speaker of standard Armenian to understand.^{[citation needed]}

The Middle Ages[link]

In 639 the city was captured by the Arab armies of Islam and it remained in Arab hands until the Kurdish dynasty of Marwanid ruled the area during the 10th and 11th centuries. After the Battle of Manzikert in 1071, the city came under the rule of the Mardin branch of Oghuz Turks and then the Anatolian beylik of Artuqids (circa 1100–1250 in effective terms, although almost a century longer nominally). The whole area was then disputed between the Ilkhanate and Ayyubid dynasties for a century, after which it was taken over by the rising Turkmen states of Kara Koyunlu (the Black Sheep) first and Ak Koyunlu (the White Sheep). It was also ruled by Sultanate of Rûm between 1241–1259.

The Ottoman Empire[link]

The city became part of the Ottoman Empire during Sultan Süleyman I's campaign of Irakeyn (the two Iraqs, e.g. Arabian and Persian) in 1534.^{[citation needed]} The Ottoman eyalet of Diyarbakır corresponded to Turkey's southeastern provinces today, a rectangular area between the Lake Urmia to Palu and from the southern shores of Lake Van to Cizre and the beginnings of the Syrian desert, although its borders saw some changes over time.^{[citation needed]} The city was an important military base for controlling this region and at the same time a thriving city noted for its craftsmen, producing glass and metalwork. For example the doors of Mevlana's tomb in Konya were made in Diyarbakır, as were the gold and silver decorated doors of the tomb of Imam-i Azam in Baghdad.

In the 19th century, Diyarbakır prison gained infamy throughout the Ottoman Empire as a site where political prisoners from the enslaved Balkan ethnic groups were sent to serve harsh sentences for speaking or fighting for national freedom.^[8] Thousands of its Christians population perished during the 1895 massacres in Anatolia.^[9]

The 20th century[link]

The 20th century was turbulent for Diyarbakir. Armenians killed there exceeded the city's Armenian population because it was a centre of deportation for all parts of the province.^[10] The massacre of Armenians in Diyarbakir was witnessed by Rafael De Nogales,^[11] who served as an officer in the Ottoman Army. At one time, Diyarbakır had a substantial Armenian and Assyrian population, who comprised almost a third of the city's population. However, almost all were killed. Few Assyrians and Armenians remain today. The holder of the Chaldean Catholic Archeparchy of Diyarbakir is currently living in Istanbul.

In the three decades following the establishment of the Turkish Republic in 1923, Diyarbakır became the object of Turkish-nationalist policies against Kurds, as a result of which Kurdish elites were destroyed and many Kurds deported to western Turkey.^{[citation needed]}

The 41-year-old American-Turkish Pirinçlik Air Force Base near Diyarbakır, known as NATO's frontier post for monitoring the former Soviet Union and the Middle East, closed on 30 September 1997. This closure was the result of the general drawdown of US bases in Europe and the improvement in space surveillance technology. The base housed sensitive electronic intelligence-gathering systems that monitored the Middle East, the Caucasus and Russia.^{[citation needed]}

Diyarbakır today[link]

Great Mosque of Diyarbakır

A typical example of Diyarbakır's historic architectural style, with masonry tiles built of the city's indigenous type of dark stone.

Diyarbakır's city walls, built by Constantius II and extended by Valentinian I between 367 and 375, stretch almost unbroken for about 6 kilometres.

Dicle University campus in Diyarbakır.

During the recent conflict, the population of the city grew dramatically as villagers from remote areas where fighting was serious left or were forced to leave for the relative security of the city. Rural to urban movement has often been the first step in a migratory pattern that has taken large numbers of Kurds from the east to the west. Diyarbakır grew from 30,000 in the 1930s to 65,000 by 1956, to 140,000 by 1970, to 400,000 by 1990,^[12] and eventually swelled to about 1.5 million by 1997.^[13] Today the intricate warren of alleyways and old-fashioned tenement blocks that makes up the old city within and around the walls contrasts dramatically with the sprawling suburbs of modern apartment blocks and cheaply-built gecekondu slums to the west.

After the cessation of hostilities between the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and the Turkish army, a large degree of normality returned to the city, with the Turkish government declaring an end to the 15-year period of emergency rule on 30 November 2002. In August 2005, the Kurdish mayor Osman Baydemir presented the Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdoğan with the following complaints:

• A grant of 500,000 euros from the German Development Fund KFW to redesign the city's waste disposal system was refused by the State Planning Authority (DPT) of the Turkish government in Ankara, and then a 22 million project to renew the system was also prevented.
• A grant of 350,000 euros for the rehabilitation of the Tigris valley, from the Turco-Spanish Economic and Financial Union, was declared unnecessary by the DPT in 2005.
• A dentistry project jointly agreed with and funded by South Korea and EAID (the Eurasian Institute of Dentistry) had to abandoned after the dentists were refused work permits.
• A five million euro project to build a tram system in the city was abandoned after the Turkish government refused to guarantee a 15-year loan from Deutsche Bank that the city had negotiated.
• In the urban renewal project for 2005 presented to the EU commission 10 million euros were granted to Diyarbakır. However the State Planning Authority (DPT) of the Turkish government reallocated 4 million of this to other cities (Gaziantep, Şanlıurfa and Erzurum), which failing to present projects lost this money.
• In another instance a 30 million euro loan from the EU was prevented by the DPT.^[14]

According to a November 2006 survey by the Sur Municipality, one of Diyarbakır's metropolitan municipalities, 72% of the inhabitants of the municipality use Kurdish most often in their daily speech, followed by Turkish, and 69% are illiterate in their most widely used vernacular.^[15]

Arts and culture[link]

Some jewelry making and other craftwork continues today although the fame of the Diyarbakır's craftsmen has long passed. Folk dancing to the drum and zurna (pipe) are a part of weddings and celebrations in the area.

Cuisine[link]

Diyarbakır is known for rich dishes of lamb (and lamb's liver, kidneys etc.); spices such as black pepper, sumac and coriander; rice, bulgur and butter.

Main sights[link]

Diyarbakır is surrounded by an almost intact, dramatic set of high walls of black basalt forming a 5.5 km (3.4 mi) circle around the old city. There are four gates into the old city and 82 watch-towers on the walls, which were built in antiquity, restored and extended by the Roman emperor Constantius in 349. In addition, the walls of Diyarbakir in the world after the Great Wall of China is the second largest city walls.^{[citation needed]}

Diyarbakır boasts numerous medieval mosques and madrassahs including:

• Great Mosque of Diyarbakır built by the Seljuk Turkish Sultan Malik Shah in the 11th century. The mosque, one of the oldest in Turkey, is constructed in alternating bands of black basalt and white limestone (The same patterning is used in the 16th century Deliler Han Madrassah, which is now a hotel). The adjoining Mesudiye Medresesi was built at the same time as was another prayer-school in the city, Zinciriye Medresesi.
• Beharampaşa Camii – an Ottoman mosque built in 1572 by the governor of Diyarbakır, Behram Pasha, noted for the well-constructed arches at the entrance.
• Dört Ayaklı Minare (the four-footed minaret) – built by Kasim Khan of the Ak Koyunlu. It is said that one who passes seven times between the four columns will have his wishes granted.
• Fatihpaşa Camii – built in 1520 by Diyarbakır's first Ottoman governor, Bıyıklı Mehmet Paşa ("the moustachioed Mehmet pasha"). The city's earliest Ottoman building, it is decorated with fine tilework.
• Hazreti Süleyman Camii – 1155–1169 – Süleyman son of Halid Bin Velid, who died capturing the city from the Arabs, is buried here along with his companions.
• Hüsrevpaşa Camii – the mosque of the second Ottoman governor, 1512–1528. Originally the building was intended to be a school (medrese)
• İskender Paşa Camii – a mosque of an Ottoman governor, an attractive building in black and white stone, built in 1551.
• Melek Ahmet Camii a 16th century mosque noted for its tiled prayer-niche and for the double stairway up the minaret.
• Nebii Camii – an Ak Koyunlu mosque, a single-domed stone construction from the 16th century. Nebi Camii means "the mosque of the prophet" and is so-named because of the number of inscriptions in honour of the prophet on its minaret.
• Safa Camii – built in 1532 by the Ak Koyunlu Turkmen tribe.

Famous churches include:

• St. Giragos Armenian Church – A disused and restored Armenian Orthodox church.
• The Syriac Orthodox Church of Our Lady (Syriac: ܐ ܕܝܠܕܬ ܐܠܗܐ `Idto d-Yoldat Aloho, Turkish: Meryemana kilisesi), was first constructed as a pagan temple in the 1st century BCE. The current construction dates back to the 3rd century, has been restored many times, and is still in use as a place of worship today.^{[citation needed]} There are a number of other churches in the city.

Museums include:

• The Archaeological Museum contains artifacts from the neolithic period, through the Early Bronze Age, Assyrian, Urartu, Roman, Byzantine, Artuqids, Seljuk Turk, Aq Qoyunlu, and Ottoman Empire periods.
• Cahit Sıtkı Tarancı Museum – the home of the late poet and a classic example of a traditional Diyarbakır home.
• The birthplace of poet Ziya Gökalp – preserved as a museum to his life and works.

Climate[link]

Diyarbakır has a semi-arid climate. Summer are very hot and very dry, due to its location on the Mesopotamian plain which is subject to hot winds from the deserts of Syria and Iraq to the south. The highest recorded temperature was 44.8°C (112.64°F) on 28 August 1998. Winters are cold and wet and with frosty nights. Snowfall is quite common between the months of December and March, snowing for a week or two. The lowest recorded temperature was −23.4°C (−10.12°F) on 30 December 2006.

Notable residents[link]

• Abdülkadir Aksu: Former Turkish minister of interior affairs
• Ahmed Arif: Poet
• Aziz Yıldırım: President of Fenerbahçe S.K. sports club
• Cahit Sıtkı Tarancı: Poet
• Cihan Haspolatlı: Galatasaray SK footballer
• Gazi Yaşargil: medical scientist and neurosurgeon
• Hesenê Metê: writer
• Hikmet Çetin: Former Turkish foreign minister, former NATO Senior Civilian Representative in Afghanistan
• Leyla Zana: politician
• Lokman Polat: writer
• Mehmed Emin Bozarslan: writer
• Mehmet Polat: actor
• Naum Faiq: writer
• Osman Baydemir: politician
• Rojen Barnas: writer
• Songül Öden: actress
• Süleyman Nazif: Prominent Young Turk
• Ziya Gökalp: Prominent ideologue of Pan-Turkism and Turanism
• Mıgırdiç Margosyan: writer, some of his books: Gavur Mahallesi, Söyle Margos Nerelisen?, Biletimiz İstanbul'a Kesildi
• Coşkun Sabah: musician
• Sayf al-Din al-Amidi: (d. 631/1233 in Damascus), Islamic theologian and legal scholar of the Shafi'i school.

See also[link]

• Amid (Chaldean Diocese)
• Dicle University

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Diyarbakır

• (Turkish) Governorship of Diyarbakır
• (Turkish) Diyarbakır Metropolitan Municipality
• (Turkish) Diyarbakırspor funs, news, informarmation
• (Turkish) local info
• (Turkish) Information on Diyarbakır
• (Turkish) Diyarbakır news
• (Turkish) Diyarbakır news
• (Turkish) Diyarbakır news
• Pictures of the City
• Diyarbakır Guide and Photo Album, more, more
• Diyarbakır Weather Forecast Information

Coordinates: 37°55′N 40°14′E / 37.91°N 40.24°E / 37.91; 40.24

v t e Diyarbakır in Diyarbakır Province (in the Southeastern Anatolia region) of Turkey Urban districts Diyarbakır (Bağlar- Kayapınar- Sur- Yenişehir) Rural districts Bismil - Çermik - Çınar - Çüngüş - Dicle - Eğil - Ergani - Hani - Hazro - Kocaköy - Kulp - Lice - Silvan Regions Provinces Aegean Afyonkarahisar - Aydın - Denizli - Izmir - Kütahya - Manisa - Muğla - Uşak Black Sea Amasya - Artvin - Bartın - Bayburt - Bolu - Çorum - Düzce - Giresun - Gümüşhane - Karabük - Kastamonu - Ordu - Rize - Samsun - Sinop - Tokat - Trabzon - Zonguldak Central Anatolia Aksaray - Ankara - Çankırı - Eskişehir - Karaman - Kayseri - Kırıkkale - Kırşehir - Konya - Nevşehir - Niğde - Sivas - Yozgat Eastern Anatolia Ağrı - Ardahan -Bingöl - Bitlis - Elâzığ - Erzincan - Erzurum - Hakkâri - Iğdır - Kars - Malatya - Muş - Siirt - Tunceli - Van Marmara Balıkesir - Bilecik - Bursa - Çanakkale - Edirne - Istanbul - Kırklareli - Kocaeli - Sakarya - Tekirdağ - Yalova Mediterranean Adana - Antalya- Burdur - Hatay - Isparta - Kahramanmaraş - Mersin - Osmaniye Southeastern Anatolia Adıyaman - Batman - Diyarbakır - Gaziantep - Kilis - Mardin - Şanlıurfa - Şırnak

v t e Metropolitan centers in Turkey Adana Ankara Antalya Bursa Diyarbakır Erzurum Eskişehir Gaziantep İstanbul İzmir Kayseri Kocaeli Konya Mersin Sakarya Samsun

v t e The Tigris Countries Turkey (523 km) Syria (40 km) Iraq (1,377 km) Cities Diyarbakır Bismil Hasankeyf Cizre Mosul Tikrit Samarra Kadhimiya Baghdad Amarah Al-Kūt Tributaries Ambar Kuru Pamuk Hazro Batman Garzan Göksu Savur Botan Little Khabur Great Zab Little Zab ‛Adhaim Diyala List of crossings

Sırrı Süreyya Önder is a Turkish fim director, actor, screen writer, columnist, and an MP elected in the Turkish general election, 2011.^[1][2]

References[link]

Abdullah Öcalan
Born	(1948-04-04) 4 April 1948 (age 64) Ömerli, Şanlıurfa,[1] Turkey
Nationality	Turkish
Ethnicity	Kurdish, Armenian, Turkish[2]
Occupation	Founder and leader of PKK,[3] Political activist, Ideologue, Writer, Prisoner
Organization	Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) Party of Free Life of Kurdistan (PJAK)
Religion	None (Atheist)[4]

This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. It is incomplete and may require expansion or cleanup. Tagged since May 2011. Its neutrality is disputed. Tagged since January 2011.

Abdullah Öcalan (born 4 April 1948) is a founding member of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).^[5] The PKK, Under the influence of Turkey is listed as a terrorist organization internationally by a number of states and organizations, including the United States and the European Union.

Öcalan was captured in Nairobi and extradited to the Turkish security force, and sentenced to death under Article 125^[6] of the Turkish Penal Code, which concerns the formation of armed gangs. The sentence was commuted to aggravated life imprisonment when Turkey abolished the death penalty in support of its bid to be admitted to membership in the European Union. From 1999 until 2009, he was the sole prisoner [1] on the İmralı island, in the Sea of Marmara.^[7] Öcalan admitted to the violent nature of the PKK,^[8] but that the period of armed warfare was defunct and a political solution to the Kurdish question should be developed.^[9] The conflict between Turkey and the PKK has resulted in over 40,000 lives being lost, including PKK members, the Turkish military, and civilians, both Kurdish and Turkish.^[10]

From prison, he has published several books, as recently as 2011.

Biography[link]

Abdullah Öcalan was born in Ömerli,^[11] a village in Halfeti, Şanlıurfa Province, in the Eastern part of Turkey.^[2] The oldest of seven children,^[12] Öcalan's brother Osman, was a PKK commander until defecting with several others to establish the Patriotic and Democratic Party of Kurdistan.^[13] His other brother Mehmet Öcalan, is a member of the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP).^[14]

After graduating from a vocational high school in Ankara (Turkish: Ankara Tapu-Kadastro Meslek Lisesi), Öcalan found employment at the Diyarbakir Title Deeds Office. He was relocated one month later to Bakırköy, Istanbul. Later, he entered Istanbul Law Faculty but transferred after the first year to Ankara University to study political science.^[15] His return to Ankara (normally impossible given his condition^{[notes 1]}) was facilitated by the state in order to divide a militant group, Dev-Genç. President Süleyman Demirel later regretted this decision, since the PKK was to become a much greater threat to the state than Dev-Genç.^[16]

In 1978, in the midst of the right- and left-wing conflicts which culminated in the 1980 Turkish coup d'état, Abdullah Öcalan founded the PKK, and launched a war against Turkey in order to set up an independent Kurdish state.^[11][17]

Kurdish–Turkish conflict[link]

In 1984, the PKK initiated a campaign of armed conflict comprising attacks against government forces^{[18][19][20][21]} in Turkey in order to create an independent Kurdish state. The PKK was linked to extortion rackets and drug trafficking in order to raise funds, which resulted in the United States, European Union, NATO, Syria, Australia, Turkey, and many other countries including the PKK on their lists of terrorist organizations.^[22][23][24]

Capture and trial[link]

The Turkish Government alleged that Öcalan was using a Cypriot passport and released this photo as evidence. The claim was rejected as propaganda by the Republic of Cyprus.^[25]

Öcalan supporters in London, April 2003

Until 1998, Öcalan was based in Syria. As the situation deteriorated in Turkey, the Turkish government openly threatened Syria over its support for the PKK.^{[citation needed]} As a result of this, the Syrian government forced Öcalan to leave the country, but did not turn him over to the Turkish authorities.

Öcalan went to Russia first and from there moved to various countries, including Italy and Greece. In 1998 the Turkish government requested the extradition of Öcalan from Italy. He was at that time defended by the high-profile German attorney, Britta Böhler, who argued that he fought a legitimate struggle against the oppression of ethnic Kurds.

He was captured in Kenya on February 15, 1999, while being transferred from the Greek embassy to Jomo Kenyata international airport Nairobi, in an operation by the Millî İstihbarat Teşkilâtı with debatable help of CIA or Mossad.^[26][27] The Greek consul who harboured him, George Costoulas, said that his life was in danger after the operation.^[28]

Speaking to Can Dündar on NTV Turkey, Deputy Undersecretary of the Turkish National Intelligence Organization, Cevat Öneş, said that Öcalan impeded American aspirations of establishing a separate Kurdish state so he was handed to the Turkish authorities, who then flew him back to Turkey for trial.^[29] His capture led thousands of protesting Kurds to protest at Greek and Israeli embassies around the world. Kurds living in Germany have been threatened with deportation if they continue to hold violent demonstrations in support of Kurdish separatist leader Abdullah Ocalan. The warning came after three Kurds were killed and 16 injured while storming the Israeli Consulate in Berlin.^[30][31] During the flight from Kenya to Turkey, a video recorded by Millî İstihbarat Teşkilâtı officers. Ocalan stated that his mother is of Turkish origin and that he was ready to serve the people of Turkey in any way.^[32]

After his capture Öcalan was held in solitary confinement as the only prisoner on İmralı island in the Sea of Marmara. Despite the fact that former prisoners at İmralı were transferred to other prisons, there were still over 1,000 Turkish military personnel stationed on the island to guard him. He was sentenced to death, but this sentence was commuted to life-long imprisonment upon the abolition of the death penalty in Turkey in August 2002.^[33] No one has been executed in Turkey since 1984.^[34] The Kurdish Human Rights Project (KHRP) may have aided this case's decision.^[35]

In November 2009, Turkish authorities announced that he would be relocated to a new prison on the island and that they were ending his solitary confinement on transferring several other PKK prisoners to İmralı, and that Öcalan would be allowed to see them for ten hours a week. The new prison was built after the Council of Europe's Committee for the Prevention of Torture visited the island and objected to the conditions in which he was being held.^[36][37]

In 2005, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that Turkey had violated articles 3, 5 and 6 of the European Convention of Human Rights by granting Öcalan no effective remedy to appeal his arrest and sentencing him to death without a fair trial.^[38] Öcalan's request for a retrial was refused by Turkish court.^[39]

Proposal for political solution[link]

Abandoning his precapture policy which involved violence targeting civilians as well as military personnel, Öcalan has advocated a relatively peaceful solution to the Kurdish conflict inside the borders of Turkey.^{[40][41][42][43][44]} Öcalan called for the foundation of a "Truth and Justice Commission" by Kurdish institutions in order to investigate war crimes committed by PKK and Turkish security forces and a parallel structure began functioning in May 2006.^[45] In March 2005, Abdullah Öcalan issued the Declaration of Democratic Confederalism in Kurdistan^[46] calling for a border free confederation between the Kurdish regions of Eastern Turkey (called "Northwest Kurdistan" by Kurdish nationalists^[47]), East Syria ("Small part of South Kurdistan"), Northern Iraq ("South Kurdistan"), and West of Iran ("East Kurdistan"). In this zone, three bodies of law would be implemented: EU law, Turkish/Syrian/Iraqi/Iranian law and Kurdish law. This perspective was included in PKK programme following the "Refoundation Congress" in April 2005.^[48]

Since his incarceration he has significantly changed his ideology, reading Western social theorists like Murray Bookchin, Immanuel Wallerstein, Fernand Braudel,^[49] fashioned his ideal society as "Democratic Confederalism" and refers to Friedrich Nietzsche as "a prophet".^[50] He also wrote books^[51] and articles^[52] on the history of pre-capitalist Mesopotamia and Abrahamic religions.

Öcalan had his lawyer, Ibrahim Bilmez,^[53] release a statement 28 September 2006, calling on the PKK to declare a ceasefire and seek peace with Turkey. Öcalan's statement said, "The PKK should not use weapons unless it is attacked with the aim of annihilation," and that it is "very important to build a democratic union between Turks and Kurds. With this process, the way to democratic dialogue will be also opened".^[54]

On May 31, 2010 however, Öcalan said he was abandoning an ongoing dialogue between him and Turkey saying that "this process is no longer meaningful or useful". Turkey ignored his 3 protocols for negotiation that included (a)his terms of health and security (b) his release and (c) a peaceful resolution to the kurdish issue in Turkey. Though the Turkish government received these protocols, these were never published. Ocalan stated that he would leave the top PKK commanders in charge of the conflict. However, he also said that his comments should not be misinterpreted as a call for the PKK to intensify its armed conflict with the Turkish state. ^[55] http://haber.ekolay.net/haber/3/1007462/Kandil-kabul-etti-Ankara-reddetti.aspx

Publications[link]

Abdullah Öcalan is the author of more than 40 books, four of which were written in prison. Many of the notes taken from his weekly meetings with his lawyers have been edited and published, notably:

• Prison Writings III: The Road Map to Negotiations (2012) ISBN 3-941012-43-6
• Prison Writings Volume II: The PKK and the Kurdish Question in the 21st Century (2010) ISBN 0-9567514-0-7
• Prison Writings: The Roots of Civilisation (2007) ISBN 0-7453-2616-1
• Defending a civilisation
• Sumer rahip devletlerinden demokratik uygarliga volumes 1 and 2
• Translation of his 1999 defense in court

See also[link]

• PKK
• PJAK

Notes[link]

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Özcan, Ali Kemal (2005). Turkey's Kurds: A Theoretical Analysis of the PKK and Abdullah Ocalan. London & New York: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-36687-9.

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Abdullah Öcalan

• Special report: The Ocalan file, BBC News, November 26, 1999.

Selahattin Demirtaş (born 10 April 1973, in Palu, Turkey) is a kurdish Turkish-speaking pro-Kurdish^[1] politician whose parent speak Zaza dialect of Kurdish language.^[2] He became the chairman of Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) in January 2010.^[3]

He graduated from Ankara University Law Faculty. He is on the Board of Directors of the Diyarbakir Branch of the Human Rights Association (IHD).

Selahattin Demirtaş was elected to the Turkish Parliament in the 2007 election as an MP for Diyarbakir for the Democratic Society Party (DTP), which eventually re-formed as the BDP.

He is married and has two children. His brother, Nurettin Demirtaş was also an active politician and the leader of the Democratic Society Party (DTP).

In September 2010, he was sentenced to 10 months in prison for alleged links to the Kurdistan Workers' Party, which is banned as a terrorist organization in Turkey.^[4]

Demirtaş emerged as a leader of the BDP's civil disobedience campaign during the 2011 Kurdish protests in Turkey, which he compared to concurrent protests in the region, especially the revolution in Egypt.^[5] He spoke with President Abdullah Gul on behalf of the Kurdish population after the fatal shooting of a BDP supporter by police in April.^[6]

References[link]

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