Öcalan receives first prison visit in 43 months

ANKARA

Jailed PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan received his first prison visit in 43 months on Oct. 23, his nephew has said, the same day a deadly terror attack rocked the capital Ankara.

Öcalan has been held in solitary confinement on a prison island since 1999.

"Our last face-to-face meeting with Abdullah Öcalan took place on March 3, 2020," said Ömer Öcalan, a lawmaker from the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party).

He added that the family met him again "years later on Oct. 23, 2024."

Five people were killed and 22 others wounded in an attack on a top Turkish defense firm on Oct. 23, which the government said was carried out by PKK members.

Türkiye launched strikes on PKK sites in Iraq and Syria after the attack on the headquarters of state-run Turkish Aerospace Industries (TUSAŞ).

The Ankara attack occurred after Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli raised the possibility that Öcalan could be granted parole if he renounces violence and disbands his organization.