Bahoz Erdal, also known as Fahman Husein ( , also spelled Fehman Hüseyin) (born 3 August 1969), in Kurdistan in Syria is a top commander in the

Kurdistan Workers' Party The Kurdistan Workers' Party, or the PKK, isDespite the PKK's 12th Congress announcing plans for total organisational dissolution, the PKK has not yet been dissolved de facto or de jure. a Kurds, Kurdish militant political organization and armed ...

(PKK). He is originally from Dêrik in

Syrian Kurdistan Syrian Kurdistan or Rojava () is a region in northern Syria where Kurds form the majority. It is surrounding three noncontiguous enclaves along the Turkish and Iraqi borders: Afrin in the northwest, Kobani in the north, and Jazira in the nor ...

Biography

Born in 1969, Hüseyin is a Syrian Kurd who studied medicine at university – thus nicknamed 'Doctor' – in Damascus. Following PKK's leader

Abdullah Öcalan Abdullah Öcalan ( ; ; born 4 April 1948 or 1949), also known as Apo (short for Abdullah in Turkish; Kurdish for "uncle"), is a founding member of the militant Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). Öcalan was based in Syria from 1979 to 1998. He ...

's capture in 1999, he shared the leadership of the PKK with Murat Karayılan and

Cemil Bayık Cemil is a Turkish given name and is derived from Arabic Jamil with other Arabic variants Gamil (mainly in Egypt), Djemil (mainly in North African countries) and Djamil. The feminine equivalent is Cemile (derived from Arabic Jamila and its Arabic v ...

, commanding the armed branch HPG particularly.PKK terrorist group's armed wing commander 'Bahoz Erdal' killed in northern Syria
''Daily Sabah'', 9 July 2014PKK'nın üst düzey sorumlularından 'Bahoz Erdal' öldürüldü
AA News Agency, 9 July 2016 He served as the head of the

People's Defence Forces The People's Defence Forces (, HPG) was the military wing of the group Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). During the 7th Congress of the PKK in January 2000, the HPG replaced the former military wing of the PKK, the People's Liberation Army of Ku ...

(HPG), the PKK's armed wing from June 2004 until July 2009, when he was replaced by Sofi Nurettin. Since 2004 he has been part of the three-man PKK Executive Committee, including acting PKK leader Murat Karayılan and PKK co-founder Cemil Bayik, who preceded Bahoz Erdal as the PKK's military commander. Some Turkish security analysts claimed in 2011 that Erdal is the leader of the

Kurdistan Freedom Hawks The Kurdistan Freedom Hawks, or TAK (), is a Kurdish nationalist militant group in Turkey seeking an independent Kurdish state in Turkish Kurdistan (eastern and southeastern Turkey). The group also opposes the Turkish government's policies towa ...

(TAK). Since 28 October 2015, he has been in the red category of the "Most Wanted Terrorists" list published by the Ministry of Interior of the Republic of Turkey. The Ministry announced that a reward of up to 10 million TL will be given to the person or persons who catch him or share information that will result in his capture.

Alleged July 2016 assassination

According to

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

's official state news agency ''

Anadolu Agency Anadolu Agency (, ; abbreviated AA) is a state-run news agency headquartered in Ankara, Turkey. History The Anadolu Agency was founded in 1920 during the Turkish War of Independence by the order of Mustafa Kemal Pasha. As the Empire's capital � ...

'', and the ''

Daily Sabah The ''Daily Sabah'' () is a Turkish pro-government daily newspaper published in Turkey. Available in English and owned by Turkuvaz Media Group, ''Daily Sabah'' published its first issue on 24 February 2014. Since 2018, the editor-in-chief is � ...

'' citing Anadolu Agency, he was killed in Syria on 8 July 2016. A person under the name of Halid el Hasekavi, spokesman of an anti-regime armed group named Tel Hamis Brigades, told an AA correspondent that Hüseyin was allegedly targeted near northern Syrian city of

Qamishli Qamishli is a city in northeastern Syria on the Syria–Turkey border, adjoining the city of Nusaybin in Turkey. The Jaghjagh River flows through the city. With a 2004 census population of 184,231, it is the List of cities in Syria, ninth most-po ...

. He claimed that Hüseyin's car was blown up at 8:30 p.m. on 8 July, being killed along with eight people including his guards. On 12 July, the ''

Yeni Şafak ''Yeni Şafak'' ("New Dawn") is a conservative, Islamist Turkish daily newspaper. The newspaper is known for its hardline support of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the AK Party and has a very close relationship with the Turkish government. ...

'' quoted the Turkish MİT intelligence service as the source of this story. Sources close to PKK denied these claims. The story was debunked when Erdal gave a radio interview on 13 July and later thoroughly deconstructed as fake by international media. He appeared on a video in April 2017 and addressed Turkish citizens about the

2017 Turkish constitutional referendum A constitutional referendum was held in Turkey on 16 April 2017 on whether to approve 18 proposed amendments to the Turkish constitution that were brought forward by the governing Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the Nationalist Movemen ...

References

External links

* 1969 births Syrian Kurdish people Members of the Kurdistan Workers' Party Living people Kurdish military personnel Apoists {{MEast-mil-bio-stub People charged with terrorism