Sulaimani first responders said they were called out on Friday morning about an injury resulting from a shooting. Saman Nadir, head of emergency services, said ID the victim was carrying identified him as 65-year-old Yousif Murad.
“He was hit with four bullets in the front” and was dead when the emergency teams arrived, Nadir told Rudaw.
PKK-affiliated media identified the victim as Shukri Sarhat and also Yasin Bulut, born in southeastern Turkey. PKK fighters frequently adopt noms de guerre. According to reports, he was arrested in 1980 during Turkey’s September 12 coup. He joined the PKK in 1991 and served on the party’s Families of Martyrs Committee for 15 years.
Talabani issued a statement condemning the killing.
“We strongly condemn the assassination of Shukri Sarhat,” he said, in a statement carried on media affiliated with his party, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK).
“I call on the security to work day and night to arrest the perpetrators and bring them to court,” Talabani added.
PKK blamed the assassination on Turkey’s intelligence agency (MIT). There are no immediate statements from Turkey on the killing.
The PKK is an armed Kurdish group fighting for the increased rights of Kurds in Turkey and named a terrorist organization by Ankara. Turkish forces regularly pursue the PKK within the Kurdistan Region’s borders where the group has its headquarters.
In late April, Turkey launched Operations Claw-Lightning and Claw-Thunderbolt against the PKK in areas of northern Duhok, near the border.
