Senior PKK member killed: Anadolu Agency

ANKARA

Turkey’s state-run Anadolu Agency reported on July 9 that Fehman Hüseyin, a senior member of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) member codenamed Bahoz Erdal, has been killed in Syria.

The agency quoted Khalid al-Hasekavi, a spokesman of the Tel Hamis Brigades which fights against the Syrian regime, as saying that Hüseyin’s car was blown up at 8:30 p.m. on July 8 as he was traveling to Qamishli along the Turkish border from Himo.

The agency also quoted the spokesman as saying the operation was conducted after a long-term pursuit.

Journalists also asked Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan about the reports during his return from a NATO summit in the Polish capital. Erdoğan said he also received the same information, but related bodies are yet to confirm its validity. 

“The information we received is that way. Information suggesting he was killed alongside a team of 14 others in Syria. Efforts continue to confirm these reports,” he said. 

Security and intelligence sources, however, declined to confirm or deny the agency’s reports. 

The PKK also denied the reports of his death. Turkey’s media has announced Hüseyin’s death on more than one occasion in the past, only for him to reappear again.

A 4 million-Turkish Lira award was promised in return for information that would lead to the capture of Syrian-born Hüseyin, who was being sought on the Interior Ministry’s red list for “wanted terrorists.”