PKK leader's second wife revealed to be daughter of colonel: claim

ISTANBUL

Imprisoned leader of the outlawed Kurdish Workers Party (PKK) Abdullah Öcalan. Hürriyet photo

The second wife of militant leader Abdullah Öcalan has been identified in the Ergenekon case as Meral Kıdır, the daughter of a colonel from the Central Anatolian province of Eskişehir, according to a special report from Melik Duvaklı of daily Türkiye.

The accusation reportedly indicates that prime Ergenekon suspect Veli Küçük often met Kıdır, who was one of two women who participated in the second Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) Congress in 1982 along with Öcalan's first wife, Kesire Öcalan.

Kıdır joined the PKK in 1978 and returned to Turkey from exile in 1990 and founded the Revolutionary People’s Party (DHP). She is said to have provided a connection between thePKK and other left-wing organizations.

She was also charged in 1990 of involvement in the killing of Professor Bahriye Üçok and sent to jail.

According to daily Milliyet, Öcalan has a child from Kıdır.