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 was buried today in Pirmam, outside of Erbil. The younger brother of PKK founder Abdullah Ocalan, he died this morning of complications from the coronavirus. https://t.co/zUJcBpgkED pic.twitter.com/RY5i7FVwaI
— Rudaw English (@RudawEnglish) November 15, 2021
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
