Bahoz Erdal

Fehman Hûseyn
Nickname(s)	Dr. Bahoz Erdal
Born	1969
Allegiance	Kurdistan Workers' Party
Years of service	1992
Rank	Commander
Battles/wars	PKK Uprising

Bahoz Erdal or Dr. Bahoz Erdal, also known as Fahman Husain (Kurdish: Fehman Hûseyn‎ فەهمان حوسێن, also spelled Fehman Hüseyin^[1]) (born 1969) is a member and Commander of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). He is originally from Syrian Kurdistan.^[2][3]

Biography

Born in 1969, Hüseyin is a Syrian Kurd who has studied medicine at university – thus nicknamed 'Doctor' – in Damascus. Following PKK's leader Abdullah Öcalan's capture in 1999, he shared the leadership of the PKK with Murat Karayılan and Cemil Bayık, commanding the armed branch HPG particularly.^[4][5]

He served as the head of the People's Defence Forces (HPG), the PKK's armed wing from June 2004^[6] until July 2009, when he was replaced by Sofi Nurettin.^[7] 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,^[8] who preceded Bahoz Erdal as the PKK's military commander.^[6]

Some Turkish security analysts has claimed that Erdal is the leader of the Kurdistan Freedom Falcons (TAK).^[9]

Fake news story about alleged July 2016 assassination

According to Turkey's official state news agency Anadolu Agency, and the Daily Sabah citing Anadolu Agency, he was killed in Syria on 8 July 2016. An alleged person under the name of Halid el Hasekavi, alleged spokesman of an alleged anti-regime armed group Tel Hamis Brigades, allegedly told an AA correspondent that Hüseyin was targeted near northern Syrian city of Qamishli. He allegedly stated that Hüseyin's car was blown up at 8:30 p.m. on 8 July, and he was killed along with eight people including his guards.^[4][5] On 12 July, the Yeni Safak quoted the Turkish MIT intelligence service as the source of this story.^[10] Sources close to PKK denied these claims.^[11] The PKK also denied the rumors that Bahoz Erdal had been killed.^[12][13][14]

The story was debunked when Erdal gave a radio interview on 13 July^[15] and later thoroughly deconstructed as fake by international media.^[16]

References

1. "56 PKK militants killed in last ten days". World Bulletin. 2 January 2013. Retrieved 12 January 2013.
2. "Rebels vow to step up Turkey raids". The Times. 13 October 2007. Retrieved 20 August 2015.
3. Today'S Zaman
4. PKK terrorist group's armed wing commander 'Bahoz Erdal' killed in northern Syria Daily Sabah, 9 July 2014
5. PKK'nın üst düzey sorumlularından 'Bahoz Erdal' öldürüldü AA News Agency, 9 July 2016
6. "Leading PKK Commander Cemil Bayik Crosses into Iran". The Jamestown Foundation. Retrieved 23 January 2015.
7. "How Kurdish PKK Militants Are Exploiting the Crisis in Syria to Achieve Regional Autonomy". The Jamestown Foundation. Retrieved 23 January 2015.
8. "New PKK Leadership 11111111Takes Over Insurgency". MiddleEastNewsline. Retrieved 20 August 2015.
9. Vera Eccarius-Kelly (2011). The Militant Kurds. ABC-CLIO. p. 212. ISBN 0-313-36468-0. Retrieved 23 January 2015.
10. "A'Death of PKK commander Bahoz Erdal confirmed'". Yeni Safak. 2016-07-12. Retrieved 2016-07-22.
11. "Bahoz Erdal li ser kar e". ANF. 9 July 2016. Retrieved 9 July 2016.
12. "PKK denies Turkish media reports of senior leader's death". Retrieved 10 July 2016.
13. "Bahoz is alive and working normally". Retrieved 10 July 2016.
14. "PKK denies death of its military commander - ARA News". 10 July 2016. Retrieved 10 July 2016.
15. "'Killed' PKK Commander Bahoz Erdal Speaks to Kurdish Radio". kurdishquestion.com. 2016-07-13. Retrieved 2016-07-26.
16. "Anatomy of a Turkish assassination fable". Al-Monitor. 2016-07-15. Retrieved 2016-07-22.

External links

• "The Official Web Site of the HPG (People's Defence Force)". web.archive.org. Retrieved 20 August 2015.