Brother of PKK founder Osman Ocalan dies of coronavirus

15-11-2021
Dilan Sirwan
Dilan Sirwan @DeelanSirwan
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ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Osman Ocalan, the younger brother of the founder of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), died on Monday morning in an Erbil hospital where he was being treated for coronavirus. 

Ocalan had been in hospital for 25 days due to coronavirus complications and died at around 4:30 in the morning on Monday, Botan Ahmed, a lifelong friend of Ocalan, told Rudaw’s Halabja Sadoun. 

He was buried in Pirmam, Erbil. 

Ocalan also suffered from long term illnesses like diabetes and heart disease. 

Ocalan was born in Urfa, Turkey in 1958. He is the younger brother of Abdullah Ocalan, founder of the PKK who is jailed in Turkey’s island Imrali prison. The PKK is an armed group that fights for greater rights for Kurds in Turkey. Ankara considers it a terrorist organization. 

Osman Ocalan joined the PKK and rose to be second-in-command until he split from the party in 2004.

A friend, who identified himself as Mahmoud, described Ocalan as a “hardworking comrade… a nationalist who served his country. He did everything he could for his nation.”
 

Updated at 2:16 pm

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