Turkey's spy agency arrests 'former PKK member' in northern Iraq

The Turkish National Intelligence Organization (MIT) arrested a senior official of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in the Sinjar area of northern Iraq, Turkish state-run TRT broadcaster reported. For their part, the PKK said that the individual had previously broken away from their ranks and is no longer a member. 

According to state-run TRT, Cekdar Kaya was PKK's logistics official in the Sinjar region and was arrested by MIT in Sinjar and took him to Turkey.

"Kaya joined the PKK in 2015 and took part in attacks in Iraq's Gara region in 2016 and Sinjar in 2017. The terrorist, who was assigned to Sinjar in 2017, operated as a sniper in the PKK/KCK's so-called unit in Sinjar/Hanesor during his time in Sinjar," TRT reported.

However, the People's Defence Forces (HPG), PKK's military wing described the news as a "complete lie" in a statement. 

"A scenario based entirely on lies was again created by MIT and served by the special war media of the AKP-MHP fascist regime," reads the statement. "The person named Çekdar Kaya, whose name is mentioned in the news by the special war media, has no relation with our forces. According to the information we received, he is someone who broke away from our ranks before. The news served by the special war media is a complete lie."

The PKK, a Kurdish guerrilla force fighting for autonomy in Turkey, was formed in the late 1970s by militant leader Abdullah Ocalan.

It is listed as a "terrorist organisation" by Turkey, the US, the UK, and the EU, and its bloody conflict with the Turkish military has left at least 40,000 people dead since 1984, many of whom were civilians.

Turkey and Iran regularly conduct air and ground operations in neighbouring Iraqi Kurdistan to root out the PKK and Iranian Kurdish opposition parties, which have bases in the area. Civilians are often caught in the crossfire.