Turkiye eliminates key PKK leader in northern Iraq

Turkiye eliminates key PKK leader in northern Iraq

Shafaq News/ On Tuesday, Turkiye's National Intelligence Organization (MIT) announced the elimination of the individual responsible for drone attacks by the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in an operation conducted in northern Iraq's Kurdistan region.

According to Turkish newspaper Daily Sabah, security sources reported that the PKK leader Zilan Azak known by the code name “Sima Koya Çiflik”, was killed in a precise strike in the Hakurk region of Iraq.

The report noted that Azak was involved in reconnaissance and gathering intelligence against Turkiye while participating in drone attacks in Iraq.

Azak had left university to join the PKK in 2015 and had received armed training in the Gara region of Iraq.

The conflict between Turkiye and the PKK dates back to the early 1980s when the PKK, founded by Abdullah Öcalan, began advocating for an independent Kurdish state within Turkiye. 

Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, the conflict intensified, with the PKK engaging in guerrilla warfare and the Turkish military conducting large-scale operations against PKK bases, particularly in southeastern Turkiye and northern Iraq.