by Mahmoud Abu Ghosh
People throughout Turkish-occupied northern Kurdistan marked 13 years since the imprisonment of Abdullah Öcalan, founding leader of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
The anniversary was observed Wednesday with protests and business closures.
Some PKK sympathizers in the Kurdish city of Hakkari were also reported to have thrown Molotov cocktails at Turkish troops in a show of support for Öcalan.
Occupation forces used water cannon and tear gas to disperse the rioters.
Many stores in Kurdish-populated cities kept their doors closed in silent protest over Öcalan’s imprisonment. Kurds living in other countries also marked the day with protests.
The jailed rebel leader was captured in Kenya February 15, 1999 and returned to Turkey for trial. Although he had been sentenced to death, his sentence was commuted to life imprisonment upon the abolition of the death penalty for peace offenses in 2002.
Supporters and Kurdish politicians have since been calling for Öcalan’s release.
Annual protests in Turkish-occupied Kurdistan and elsewhere often turn violent and Germany has threatened to deport ethnic Kurds who continue to hold demonstrations in support of Öcalan.
More than 45,000 people, mostly Kurds, have been killed since the PKK first took up arms in 1984 to liberate the north of their country from Turkish rule.
Turkey, the United States and the European Union all list the PKK as a terrorist organization.
