Sisi government met PKK three times: Turkish intelligence report

Uğur Ergan – ANKARA

REUTERS photo



The report, which was prepared by long-term tracking by intelligence officials, said Egypt gave the green light to the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) to open an office in Cairo.



“The first contact between Egypt and the PKK started with the mediation of the central government of Iraq. A delegation from the PKK was allowed to go to Baghdad in the middle of December last year. The PKK delegation went to Cairo with a visa they obtained from the Egyptian Embassy in Baghdad,” said the report, while adding that the second meeting was planned during the first one.



“A more authorized PKK delegation went to Cairo and met with some high-level officials from the Egyptian intelligence service in January 2016. Egypt gave the message that it could support the PKK for the first time in this meeting. Egypt transferred weapons and money after this meeting,” the report added.



The last meeting between Cairo and the PKK allegedly took place in April 2016, in which seven PKK members participated.



“Seven people participated in this meeting: Mustafa Karasu, an Executive Committee member of the KCK [Kurdistan Communities Union]; Gülüşan Eksen (Fatma Adır); Seyithan Ayaz (Demgat Agit), who is responsible for the KCK’s foreign relations; Velid Halil (Aldar), someone with the code name Azad and two others who could not be identified,” the report read, referring to the KCK, which is an umbrella organization that includes the PKK.



In the last meeting, it was agreed that the PKK would gather intelligence on members of the Muslim Brotherhood in Turkey and would commit actions against its members if necessary, according to the report.



The sides also allegedly agreed to continue the meetings and that Egypt would give weapons and monetary aid to the PKK.



No other meetings are believed to have been held since April, the report added.



Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi’s government met with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) three times over the past six months in Cairo, according to a Turkish intelligence report.