Cemîl Bayik

Cemîl Bayik (born 1951 in Keban, Elazığ) is one of the five founders of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK),[1] and is among the organization's top leadership. He is a member of the 12-man leadership council of the Kurdistan Communities Union (Koma Civakên Kurdistan, KCK), a Kurdish political umbrella organisation that the PKK is part of.[2] He is also part of the three-man Executive Committee of the PKK, the leading body of the organisation, which consists of himself, acting PKK leader Murat Karayilan and Fehman Huseyin from Rojava, the PKK's commander.[3][4]

Cemîl Bayik
Born1951 (age 71–72)
Keban, Elâzığ Province, Turkey
Years of service1978 – present
RankMember of PKK Presidency Council
Vice-Chairman of KCK Executive Council
Former ARGK commander
Battles/warsKurdish-Turkish conflict (1978-present)

Life

He was a member of a group around Abdullah Öcalan, Haki Karer, Duran Kalkan, Ali Haydar Kaytan and Mazlum Doğan which from 1973 onwards held regular meetings focused on ideology and would become known as the Kurdistan Revolutionaries.[5] In the PKK's first meeting in 1978, Bayik was appointed the Deputy Secretary General of the organization, making him the PKK's second man (after Abdullah Öcalan).[6] Bayik, Kalkan, Kaytan and others gave the order for the beginning of the armed warfare against the Turkish army in July 1984.[7] Until 1995[8] he served as the leader of the PKK's military wing, the Artêşa Rizgariya Gelê Kurdistan (ARGK) or Peoples' Liberation Army.[2] Bayik, Duran Kalkan, Ali Haydar Kaytan and others gave the order for the beginning of the armed insurgency against the Turkish army in July 1984.[7] In the early nineties he was the camp director at the Mahsum Korkmaz Academy, the PKK's training camp in the Syrian-controlled Beqaa Valley in Lebanon.[9]

After the capture of PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan, Bayik and Murat Karayilan were voted to lead the PKK. According to Turkish claims, reformist leaders such as Osman Öcalan, Nizamettin Tas (who previously backed Bayik against Osman Öcalan in a leadership struggle[10]) and Kani Yilmaz left the organization, while Karayilan served as the acting leader of the PKK with Bayik's support.[2]

Bayik had several times stated that PKK is ready for peace process and made several ceasefire decisions. Bayik has stated that "the war can't solve the Kurdish-Turkish conflict in Turkey and it would have been solved long time ago if the solution process had started earlier.[11]

Bayik is in the red category of the "most wanted terrorists" list published by the Ministry of Interior of the Republic of Turkey since 28 October 2015. The Ministry states that a reward of up to 10 million ₺ will be given to the person or persons who catch him or share information that will result in his arrest.[12]

In November 2018, the USA declared that they are offering a bounty of US$4 M for information that would lead to the capture of Bayik.[13]

Controversies

Suspicions of drug trafficking

On 20 April 2011, at the request of Turkey, the U.S. Department of the Treasury announced the designation of PKK founders Cemîl Bayik and Duran Kalkan and other high-ranking members as Specially Designated Narcotics Traffickers (SDNT) pursuant to the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act (Kingpin Act). Pursuant to the Kingpin Act, the designation freezes any assets the designees may have under U.S. jurisdiction and prohibits U.S. persons from conducting financial or commercial transactions with these individuals. However, years later the German Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution says that there is no evidence that the organisational structures of the PKK are directly involved in drug trafficking in Germany.[14][15]

References
  1. "Foreign Terrorist Organizations". U.S. Department of State.
  2. Leading PKK Commander Cemil Bayik Crosses into Iran. Jamestown.org. Retrieved on 2012-08-20.
  3. New PKK Leadership Takes Over Insurgency Archived 2015-06-26 at the Wayback Machine. Menewsline.com (2008-05-25). Retrieved on 2012-08-20.
  4. "Turkey 'faces choice between democracy and dictatorship'". The Independent. 2007-07-09. Retrieved 2011-10-14.
  5. Jongerden, Joost; Akkaya, Ahmet Hamdi (2012-06-01). "The Kurdistan Workers Party and a New Left in Turkey: Analysis of the revolutionary movement in Turkey through the PKK's memorial text on Haki Karer". European Journal of Turkish Studies. Social Sciences on Contemporary Turkey (14). doi:10.4000/ejts.4613. ISSN 1773-0546.
  6. The Jamestown Foundation: PKK Leadership Under Pressure in the Post-Öcalan Era. Jamestown.org. Retrieved on 2012-08-20.
  7. Jongerden, Joost (2020-02-16). "The Kurdistan Workers Party and a New Left in Turkey: Analysis of the revolutionary movement in Turkey through the PKK's memorial text on Haki Karer". European Journal of Turkish Studies (14). doi:10.4000/ejts.4613. Archived from the original on 2020-02-16. Retrieved 2021-11-29.
  8. Michael M. Gunter (15 May 1997). The Kurds and the Future of Turkey. Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 35–. ISBN 978-0-312-17265-7. Retrieved 21 August 2012.
  9. Markus, Aliza (October 2011). Blood and belief Archived 2014-10-07 at the Wayback Machine. p. 159. (PDF) . Retrieved on 2012-08-20.
  10. Nizamettin Tas Archived June 12, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
  11. PKK leader says ready for new Turkey ceasefire Archived October 15, 2015, at the Wayback Machine, AFP, 2010-10-09.
  12. "Gülen, PKK leaders remain on Turkey's 'most wanted' list". Hürriyet Daily News. Archived from the original on 2020-06-02. Retrieved 2015-12-14.
  13. "Rewards for Justice - Wanted for Terrorism - Cemil Bayik". rewardsforjustice. Archived from the original on 2018-11-08. Retrieved 2019-07-04.
  14. Press Center (April 20, 2011). "Treasury Designates Five Leaders of the Kongra-Gel as Specially Designated Narcotics Traffickers". U.S. Department of the Treasury. Retrieved April 23, 2011.
  15. Bundesministerium des Innern (2012). "Verfassungsschutzbericht 2011" (PDF). Berlin. p. 342. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-12-08. Retrieved 2015-10-11.
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