- Title: Kurds protest in Syria’s Qamishli for release of jailed PKK leader Ocalan
- Date: 15th February 2026
- Summary: AMISHLI, SYRIA (FEBRUARY 15, 2026) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF PROTESTERS DEMONSTRATING FOR THE RELEASE OF JAILED KURDISH LEADER ABDULLAH OCALAN (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) QAMISHLI RESIDENT, MOHAMED NOAIMI, SAYING: "Our participation today in this occasion is to express our solidarity with this revolutionary fighter, whom we hope will one day see the light and be freed from prison
- Embargoed:
- Keywords: Kurds Ocalan Syria demonstration freedom protest
- Location: QAMISHLI, SYRIA
- City: QAMISHLI, SYRIA
- Country: Syria
- Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace,Middle East,Civil Unrest
- Reuters ID: LVA001568415022026RP1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Kurdish protesters gathered on Sunday (February 15) in Syria’s Qamishli to call for the release of jailed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Ocalan.
Demonstrators carried pictures of Ocalan on the 27th anniversary of his capture on February 15, 1999.
The 77-year-old militant leader Abdullah Ocalan has spent a quarter of a century in jail after leading his Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) to take up arms against the Turkish state to fight for a Kurdish homeland.
Ocalan was captured in Kenya by Turkish special forces in 1999. Despite being jailed, he continued to wield considerable clout and symbolic power over the PKK, whose fighters are mainly based in the mountains of neighbouring northern Iraq.
(Production: Orhan Qereman, Kinda Makieh) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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