Journalist and author Abdülkadir Konuk has died in Cologne at the age of 76. Konuk was born in Erzincan in 1947. He was arrested and sentenced to death in Turkey after the military coup of 12 September 1980. In 1989, he was taken from prison to hospital due to heart problems and freed in a spectacular action by armed persons. His friends took him to an island in Turkey, from where he rowed for five and a half hours in a small boat to the Greek island of Lesbos and finally came to Germany.

Abdülkadir Konuk has written numerous books and contributed to the newspapers Özgür Gündem and Yeni Özgür Politika, among others. During a trip to Lebanon, he interviewed PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan in the Beqaa Valley. His novel "Dağdan Kopan Özgürlük" deals with the life of Öcalan and guerrilla fighters. The book, published by Belge, was immediately banned in Turkey. Even in exile, Konuk was persecuted for his texts and sentenced to prison. Turkey demanded his extradition from Germany for years.