The Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) held its 12th Extraordinary Congress between May 5 and 7 following Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan’s February 27 ‘Call for Peace and a Democratic Society’.

The final declaration of the congress, published by ANF on May 12, announced the martyrdom of two leading cadres of the PKK, Fuat-Ali Haydar Kaytan on July 3, 2018, and Riza Altun on September 25, 2019. The PKK Congress was dedicated to Kaytan and Altun.

The first memorial service for Ali Haydar Kaytan and Rıza Altun is being held in the Tuzluçayır neighborhood of Ankara.

The commemoration is taking place at Altun's family home in the Tuzluçayır. Photographs of Altun and Kaytan, adorned with carnations, were placed at the site of the commemoration, along with a memorial book.

Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan sent a message to the Memorial service, paying tribute to his fallen comrades.

The message, read by Faik Özgür Erol of Asrın Law Office, reads as follows:

“Dear Comrades,

It is with great sadness that I have learned of the martyrdom of Ali Haydar Kaytan and Rıza Altun.

I would like to express my deepest condolences and respect for their memory, with the intention of conducting a comprehensive assessment in their honor at a later date.

Their place in our struggle for national existence and democratic communalism is eternal.

They will continue to play their roles as fundamental inspirational values for the paradigm and institutionalization of the new era.

They will live on in our struggle as eternal guides.

On this occasion, I respectfully salute the decisions taken at the historic 12th Congress and the messages for the coming period.

Abdullah Öcalan

İmralı / Bursa

12.05.2025"

Tuzluçayır

Tuzluçayır holds a special place in the history of the Turkish leftist movement and the Kurdish freedom struggle. The neighborhood was established in the 1960s by families from different provinces, particularly from Kayseri, Sivas, Çorum, and Yozgat, where the Alevi population was concentrated, and was shaped by a culture of solidarity. With the arrival of Kemal Pir in 1975, the influence of the “Apoists” began to be felt. Pir quickly established strong bonds with the youth and became a respected figure in the neighborhood. With meetings attended by Abdullah Öcalan, Tuzluçayır became a center where the ideological foundations of the PKK were laid and its vanguard cadres were trained.

Ali Haydar Kaytan

Ali Haydar Kaytan (born 26 March 1952 in the Nazımiye district of Dersim, martyred 3 July 2018), also known as Fuad, was a co-founder of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and a member of the executive council of the Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK). He was among the early members of a group along with Abdullah Öcalan, Haki Karer, Mazlum Doğan and Cemîl Bayik which held regular ideological meetings from 1973 onwards and which would later become known as the "Kurdistan Revolutionaries”.  He later was among the co-founders of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, and was sent by Leader Öcalan to Europe to raise support. In 1988, he was arrested as a part of the infamous Düsseldorf trials and carried out a strong resistance while in prison, went on a hunger strike several times in protest of the pre-trial detention conditions.  He then returned to Kurdistan and became a member of the co-presidency council of the Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK). He is remembered as one of the early comrades of Leader Öcalan, and a symbol of loyalty to the leadership, truth and free life.

Riza Altun

Rıza Altun (born on January 1, 1956, in Kayseri, martyred September 25, 2019) was a founding member of the PKK, involved in the Kurdish political struggle since the late 1970s. He was imprisoned from 1980 to 1995, and played a crucial role in the prison resistance of the period. He held various leadership roles within the organization, including overseeing its operations in Iran and Europe as well as leading the PKK's Political Committee and Foreign Affairs Committee. He is remembered as a symbol of all those who walk together in comradeship on the road to freedom.