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ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – A senior commander of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) who played a critical role in defending the Yezidi ethnoreligious minority from the Islamic State (ISIS) was killed in September by a Turkish strike in southeast Turkey, the PKK announced on Sunday.
Vahdettin Karay, nom de guerre Agit Civyan, was killed on September 11 during a raid on a Turkish military outpost in a rural area of Van province alongside two other PKK fighters, according to a statement released by the People’s Defence Forces (HPG) – the military wing of the PKK – on Sunday.
In late September, the Turkish interior ministry reported the killing of a senior PKK commander, whose identity was established by the state-run Anadolu Agency (AA) as Agit Civyan.
Karay was a senior commander of the HPG when the ISIS swept across Syria and northern Iraq in the summer of 2014. According to the PKK, he played a critical role in defending the Yezidis, an ethnoreligious minority targeted by the extremist group's militants.
Civyan described the area of Shingal (Sinjar), the heartland of the Yezidi community, as a “symbol” for the Kurdish struggle. “On 3rd of August, Daesh (ISIS) took over the Sinjar area, and since August 5, we the HPG have been here on Sinjar Mountain and we're protecting Sinjar and continuing to fight,” Civyan told Rudaw on November 13, 2015.
Civyan and his unit attacked an army post at 6:30 pm on September 11 and killed 10 Turkish soldiers, according to the HPG statement confirming his death.“The guerrilla force commanded by comrade Agit destroyed the enemy’s position victoriously but the enemy used Kobra Helicopters and other aircrafts intervened… Agit Civyan was martyred,”read the HPG statement.
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