Firat News Agency (ANF), a media outlet linked to the PKK, reported that Huseyin Arasan, who is from Turkey’s Mardin province, was shot three times on Friday and died in hospital on Saturday. It said the perpetrators are not known, but the attack bears “all the marks of previous killings by the Turkish state and KDP,” referring to Kurdistan Region’s ruling Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) which has previously denied such accusations but has strong ties with Ankara.
Born in Turkey’s Izmir province in 1978, Arasan migrated to Sulaimani a few years ago due to legal cases against him at home. He was a member of the Mesopotamian Workers’ Association which is allegedly affiliated to the PKK. He was shot in front of an office of the association, according to ANF.
Sulaimani security forces have not commented on the murder. Rudaw English reached out to the Asayish but they were not immediately available.
Several similar attacks on PKK-affiliated people have taken place in the Kurdistan Region, especially Sulaimani, in recent years. According to ANF data, five people have been killed since 2021.
The Turkey-based Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) condemned the murder in a tweet on Saturday, saying it is one of a string of attacks against “Kurdish patriots” in the Region.
“It is the duty of the regional administration to reveal those responsible for this heinous murder as soon as possible,” added the pro-Kurdish party.
Turkey has not commented on the incident.
The PKK is an armed group that has struggled for the increased rights of Kurds in Turkey but is regarded as a terrorist organization by Ankara. The Turkish army often targets them at home and in the Kurdistan Region. Turkish intelligence is accused of carrying out assassinations of the group’s members in the Region.