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Murat Karayılan

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Murat Karayılan
Karayılan in 2005
Born(1954-06-05)5 June 1954
Birecik, Şanlıurfa, Turkey
AllegianceKurdistan Workers' Party
Battles / warsKurdish–Turkish conflict
Kurdistan Region–PKK conflict
Operation Kiran

Murat Karayılan (Kurdish: Mirad Qarayîlan; born 5 June 1954 in Birecik, Şanlıurfa, Turkey), also nicknamed Cemal,[1] was one of the co-founders of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).[2] He became the PKK's acting leader after its original founder and leader, Abdullah Öcalan, was captured in 1999 by Turkish intelligence agents.[3] On 2014, he left the PKK leader position and was assigned as the new commander-in-chief of the PKK's armed wing, the People's Defence Forces.[4]

Biography

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Karayılan was born on 5 June 1954,[5][6] in Birecik, Şanlıurfa, Karayılan finished his studies at a vocational college of machinery and joined the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in 1979. He was active in his native province of Şanlıurfa until he fled to Syria at the time of the 1980 Turkish coup d'état.[6] He called on Kurds to stop serving in the military of Turkey, stop paying taxes and stop using the Turkish language.[7]

On 13 December 2016, the Mardin 1st Criminal Court of Peace issued a detention warrant for Karayılan and Duran Kalkan, another PKK commander, as part of an investigation into the killing of the Kaymakam of Derik, Muhammet Fatih Safitürk.[8]

In March 2017, there were reports of a failed assassination attempt against Karayılan, but it was unclear as to whether the attempt was made by Turkish forces or a group within the PKK.[9]

Karayılan and two other PKK leaders were wanted by the government of the United States and the government of Turkey; the PKK is considered a terrorist organization by the United States European Union and Turkey.[10] PKK-affiliated groups operating in Iraq have been accused by human rights organisations of recruiting child soldiers.[11][12][13][14]

From 28 October 2015, he was in the red category of the "most wanted terrorists" list published by the Ministry of Interior of the Republic of Turkey. The Ministry offered a reward of up to 10 million ₺ for his capture.[15]

Murat Karayilan was also the author of a book called Bir Savaşın Anatomisi (Anatomy of War).[16]

Suspicions of drug trafficking

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On 14 October 2009, the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated senior leaders of the PKK as significant foreign narcotics traffickers: Karayılan, as head of the PKK, and high-ranking members Ali Rıza Altun and Zübeyir Aydar. Pursuant to the Kingpin Act, the designation froze any assets the designees may have had under U.S. jurisdiction and prohibited U.S. citizens from conducting financial or commercial transactions with them.[17] As of 2011, Karayılan still had the designation.[18]

The German Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution stated in the same year, that it had no evidence that the organisational structures of the PKK were directly involved in drug trafficking in Germany.[19]

References

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  1. ^ "MFA - I. Historical Background and Development". Retrieved 23 January 2015.
  2. ^ "Leadership reshuffle - PKK makes changes in its ranks" (PDF). Washington Institute for Near East Policy. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
  3. ^ "Kurdish PKK rebel leader, Karayilan, softens tone in Turkish conflict". Retrieved 23 January 2015.
  4. ^ "Leadership reshuffle - PKK makes changes in its ranks" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
  5. ^ "Murat Karayilan". ATFP. Retrieved 17 September 2023.
  6. ^ a b Murat Karayılan yakalandı mı? Archived 3 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine, 13 August 2011
  7. ^ "End to Turkey's Kurdish conflict fades from sight". The Daily Star Newspaper - Lebanon. Archived from the original on 13 November 2017. Retrieved 23 January 2015.
  8. ^ "Detention warrants issued for senior PKK figures". Hürriyet Daily News. Retrieved 3 April 2017.
  9. ^ Samer, Rawaa (29 March 2017). "PKK repeals Turkish attempt to assassinate Murat Karayılan". PUKMedia. Archived from the original on 4 April 2017. Retrieved 3 April 2017.
  10. ^ "U.S. offers reward for information on senior PKK figures". Reuters. 6 November 2018. Retrieved 9 November 2019.
  11. ^ "Iraq: Armed Groups Using Child Soldiers". Human Rights Watch. 22 December 2016.
  12. ^ "COALITION TO STOP THE USE OF CHILD SOLDIERS" (PDF). Amnesty International. 2001.
  13. ^ "Child Soldiers Global Report 2001 - Turkey". Refworld. United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. 2001.
  14. ^ Mohammed, Dler S. (13 February 2022). "PHOTOS: PKK continues to recruit child soldiers". Kurdistan24.
  15. ^ "Turkey issues list of most 'wanted' terrorists". AA. Retrieved 28 October 2015.
  16. ^ Basaran, Ezgi (22 September 2017). Frontline Turkey: The Conflict at the Heart of the Middle East. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 91. ISBN 978-1-83860-858-3.
  17. ^ Press Center (14 October 2009). "Treasury Designates Three Leaders of the Kongra-Gel as Significant Foreign Narcotics Traffickers". U.S. Department of the Treasury. Retrieved 23 April 2011.
  18. ^ Press Center (20 April 2011). "Treasury Designates Five Leaders of the Kongra-Gel as Specially Designated Narcotics Traffickers". U.S. Department of the Treasury. Retrieved 23 April 2011.
  19. ^ Bundesministerium des Innern (2012). "Verfassungsschutzbericht 2011" (PDF). Berlin. p. 342. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 December 2015. Retrieved 11 October 2015.
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