This is a list of assassinations of the Kurdistan Workers' Party insurgency, usually carried out by the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) or the security forces of Turkey. Date Target Attacker Location ResultCasualties Comment30 July 1979Mehmet Celal BucakPKKHilvan, Şanlıurfa, TurkeyAssassination failed5 killed, 2 woundedBucak was a Kurdish tribal leader and a member of the Turkish parliament. He was injured with his son when PKK militants under Cuma Tak tried to assassinate him.22 October 1988Esat Oktay YıldıranÜmraniye, Istanbul, TurkeyAssassination successful1 killedYıldıran was a Turkish military officer who was responsible for torturing inmates in Diyarbakır Prison. He was shot dead on a public bus by a PKK militant.7 July 1991Vedat AydınTurkeyMaden, TurkeyAssassination successful1 killedVedat Aydın was a leader of the Peoples' Labour Party and the Turkish Human Rights Association.24 February 1992Cengiz AltunIstanbul, TurkeyAssassination successful1 killedOn 24 February 1992 Yeni Ülke journalist Cengiz Altun was assassinated. He had previously received death threats, and had written an article on the Counterguerrilla in the 2–8 February issue.31 July 1992Yahya OrhanAssassination successful1 killedJournalist Yahya Orhan, who wrote for Özgür Gündem and Yeni Ülke, was assassinated on 31 July 1992.batmanpostasigazetesi, 31 July 2012, Gazeteci Yahya Orhan mezarı başında anıldı 20 September 1992Musa AnterDiyarbakır, TurkeyAssassination successful1 killed, 1 woundedAnter was shot at a festival in 1992 by Turkish JITEM, in an incident in which the politician Orhan Miroğlu was seriously injured.18 February 1993Kemal KılıçIstanbul, TurkeyAssassination successful1 killedKemal Kılıç, a former correspondent for Özgür Gündem then writing for Yeni Ülke, was assassinated on 18 February 1993.Human Rights Watch (1993), The Kurds of Turkey: Killings, Disappearances and Torture, pp18-19 4 September 1993Mehmet Sincar Batman, TurkeyAssassination successful2 killedMehmet Sincar and Metin Özdemir were politicians of the Democracy Party investigating the murder of Vedat Aydın.Metin Özdemir6 July 2005Hikmet FidanPKKBağlar, Diyarbakır, TurkeyAssassination successful1 killedHikmet Fidan who worked as the senior general chairman for a long time in HADEP before the party was closed, was shot to death with a silencer in front of a building in Turkey.17 July 2005Hasan ÖzenVienna, AustriaAssassination successful1 killedPKK's representative of Austria; Hasan Özen was assassinated. Özen was against of Abdullah Öcalan's declarations and he wanted to leave the organization.12 February 2006Kani YılmazIraqi KurdistanAssassination successful2 killedPKK's former representative of Europe, Kani Yılmaz was assassinated by a bomb that was put into his car on 12 February. Yılmaz was burned to death in the car with a former PKK militant Sabri Tori.9 January 2013Sakine CansızTurkeyParis, FranceAssassination successful3 killedSakine Cansız was one of the co-founders of the PKK. Leyla Söylemez was an area manager of the PKK youth organisation. Fidan Doğan was a Kurdish activist, who worked at the Kurdish information centre in Paris and also represented the Brussels-based Kurdish National Congress in France. They were shot dead in Paris on 9 January 2013.Leyla SöylemezFidan Doğan22 July 2015Okan AcarPKK (alleged by Turkey)Ceylanpınar, Şanlıurfa, TurkeyAssassination successful2 killedOn 22 July 2015, two police officers (Okan Acar and Feyyaz Yumuşak) were assassinated by unidentified men. Soon after, 9 Turkey Kurds were anonymously denounced as the killers, arrested and accused of assassinations under PKK orders. Authorship was first claimed by PKK's armed wing HPG, describing it as a retaliation following the prior 2015 Suruç bombing.Feyyaz Yumuşak3 October 2015Haci Lokman BirlikTurkeyŞırnak, TurkeyAssassination successful1 killedLokman was killed and his corpse tied with a rope to a police car and filmed by the police while being pulled through the streets of Şırnak. Lokman was the brother-in-law of HDP deputy Leyla Birlik. 28 December 2015Tahir ElçiTurkey (assumed)Diyarbakır, TurkeyAssassination successful1 killedPresident of the Diyarbakır Bar Association, who litigated against Turkey at the European Court of Human Rights.14 September 2016Ahmet BudakPKKŞemdinli, Hakkari, TurkeyAssassination successful1 killedAhmet Budak was a politician for AK Party. He was killed in front of his son with a pistol when 3 PKK members including a child attacked him.22 September 2016Halit BenekMazıdağı, Mardin, TurkeyAssassination failedNone (+1 perpetrator killed)Halit Benek was governor of Mazıdağı District for AK Party. A PKK member tried to assassinate him on 22 September with a pistol and a grenade but the assassin was shot death by police.10 October 2016Aydın MuştuÖzalp, Van, TurkeyAssassination successful1 killedAydın Muştu was vice governor of Özalp District for AK Party. He was killed by PKK members in front of his house on 10 October.11 October 2016Deryan AktertDicle, Diyarbakır, TurkeyAssassination successful1 killedDeryan Aktert was vice governor of Dicle District for AK Party. He was killed by PKK members on 11 October.9 November 2016Ali BoutanTurkeyQamishli, Rojava, SyriaAssassination successful1 killedCommander of Anti-Terror Units.10 November 2016Muhammed Fatih SafitürkPKKDerik, Mardin, TurkeyAssassination successful1 killed, 1 woundedMuhammed Fatih Safitürk was governor of Derik District. He was assassinated by PKK via a bomb in his office. He was critically wounded and died of wounds the day after the attack. His personal chauffeur was also injured but survived.17 December 2016Turan BedirhanoğluŞırnak, TurkeyAssassination failed1 wounded (+1 perpetrator wounded)Turan Bedirhanoğlu vice governor of Şırnak for AK Party. The Turkish Intelligence was aware of a planned assassination before the planned date and took measures. Bedirhanoğlu was protected by special forces on 17 December. PKK militias opened fire when they realized they were noticed. Dincer was slightly and one of the PKK militias was heavily wounded.15 August 2018 İsmail Özden Turkey Snune, Sinjar, Iraqi KurdistanAssassination successful1 killed Insurgent's leadership. Assassinated in a Turkish airstrike on Sinjar.17 July 2019 Osman Köse PKK (alleged by Turkey)Erbil, Iraqi KurdistanAssassination successful 3 killed Köse was an officer in Turkish consulate in Iraq. He was assassinated when he was dining on a restaurant in Erbil. Two Iraqi civilians were also killed in the assassination. Turkish government blamed PKK however, People's Defence Forces (HPG), the armed wing of the PKK never claimed responsibility for the assassination.12 October 2019Hevrin KhalafAhrar al-SharqiyaM4 Motorway, Rojava, SyriaAssassination successful1 killedHevrin Khalaf was a Kurdish-Syrian politician who served as the Secretary-General of the Future Syria Party. She was executed by Turkish-backed Ahrar al-Sharqiya militants. 23 June 2020 Zehra Berkel Turkey Helincê, Kobane, SyriaAssassination successful3 killed Berkel was a women's rights activist in Syrian's Rojava region as a coordinating member of the Kongra Star women's movement. She was killed via a Turkish drone attack together Amina Waysi and Mizgin Xelil. Turkey has been criticized for this killing of women's rights activists. 5 June 2021 Selman Bozkir (aka Docteur Huseyin) Makhmour refugee camp, Iraq Assassination successful 3 killed Turkey claimed the airstrike which killed Bozkir and two others, claiming Bozkir, the camp manager, to be a senior PKK official and the camp to be "an incubator for terrorism". The Makhmour camp was created in the 1990s, hosting refugees fleeing South-Eastern Turkey's destruction. 16-17 August 2021Seîd HesenSinjar, Iraqi Kurdistan Sikeniye village, Sinjar DistrictAssassination successful11 killedSeîd Hessen was an Iraqi Sinjar YBŞ commander targeted by Turkey airstrikes, including airstrikes on his hospital. Two assistants, 4 YBŞ security, and 4 medical staffs were killed.7 December 2021Marwan Badal HajiKhanasor, Shingal districtAssassination successful2 killedMarwan Badal Haji was an Iraqi, Yazidi, Sinjar YBS commander. In 2014 while ISIS invaded Sinjar, Badal formed the core of a Yazidi resistance militia which later became the YBS, supported by Syrian YPG. Turkey considers YPG and YBS as foreign offshoots of Turkish PKK.
See also List of arrested mayors in Turkey – mostly Kurdish parties representatives
References