section_path: Organization
section_name: Organization
paragraph_text: Organization
  
  Even though the PKK had several prominent representatives in various countries such as Iraq, Iran, Syria, Russia, and Europe, Abdullah Öcalan stayed the unchallenged leader of the organization. Today, though serving life imprisonment, Öcalan is still considered the honorary leader and figurehead of the organization.
  
  Murat Karayılan led the organization from 1999 to 2013. In 2013 Cemil Bayik and Besê Hozat assumed as the first joint leadership. Cemil Bayik was one of the core leaders since its foundation. The organization appointed "Doctor Bahoz", nom de guerre of Fehman Huseyin, a Syrian Kurd, in charge of the movement's military operations signifying the long-standing solidarity among Kurds from all parts of Kurdistan.