Turkey claims death of PKK 'senior executive' in Sulaimani

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Turkey on Thursday claimed the death of a “senior executive” of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in an operation in the Kurdistan Region’s city of Sulaimani.

Turkey’s state-owned Anadolu Agency identified the member as Hatice Hezer, code-named “Berivan Zilan” and attributed her death to a National Intelligence Agency (MIT) “point operation” in the city of Sulaimani. 

The team partaking in the operation which killed Hezer returned safely to Turkey, Anadolu added.

The PKK has not confirmed the death of Hezer.

Ankara has claimed the killing of at least two PKK commanders in Sulaimani in the past month. PKK has not confirmed any of the deaths. 

A Turkish drone in June targeted a car carrying suspected PKK members in the Garmiyan administration’s town of Kalar in Sulaimani, killing the deputy chairman of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) executive council.

The PKK is an armed group struggling for the increased rights of Kurds in Turkey and designated a terrorist organization by Ankara.

Turkey’s offensives on the Kurdistan Region have previously led to civilian casualties who are often caught in the crossfire, despite Ankara’s denial.

Ankara has received widespread criticism from Baghdad, Erbil, and the international community for violating Iraqi sovereignty. It recently launched an operation against the armed group in Duhok province, dubbed Claw-Lock, which has been condemned by Iraqi officials, who labeled it as a “hostile” and “provocative” violation of the country’s sovereignty.