ANKARA,—Cemil Bayık, the head of the Kurdistan Communities’ Union (KCK), a political umbrella group linked to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants, has reportedly said that Hakan Fidan, head of the National Intelligence Organization (MIT), admitted that a group within the intelligence body was responsible for the execution of three Kurdish women activists linked to the PKK in Paris in 2013.

In an interview published on Sunday in the Cumhuriyet daily, Bayık, who is also the “number two” man in the outlawed PKK, claimed that the Paris murders were committed by a faction consisting of ultranationalists and members of the “parallel state,” in reference to the Gülen movement, also known as Hizmet movement, within MİT, adding, “But he [Fidan] is the head of MİT, and it is impossible to think he is not aware of the assassinations.”

The three Kurdish activists Sakine Cansaız, , co-founder of the PKK, Fidan Doğan and Leyla Söylemez, were assassinated in Paris on Jan. 9, 2013. A few days after the murders, French police detained Ömer Güney, an ethnic Turk, Cansız’s driver. His computer and mobile devices were seized by the police and he was jailed pending trial.

When asked whether MIT executed key members of the PKK while it was involved in the talks with the group, Bayık, who clearly expressed his lack of confidence in Fidan’s argument that he was not aware of the killings, stated that besides MİT, other international actors took part in the murders to interrupt the Kurdish settlement process. The talks were initiated in 2011 in order to seek a solution to the country’s decades-long Kurdish problem, which cost nearly 40,000 lives.

Continuing his argument that MİT is aware of the killing, Bayık went on to say, “Any information on this issue was tampered with, but those perpetrators are clear from our point of view.”

Öcalan to issue letter for Newroz

While a heated debate continues as to whether jailed PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan will send a video message to the people for the approaching the Kurdish new year celebrations (Newroz), which would be expected to contribute to the establishment of peace in the country, pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) İstanbul deputy Sırrı Süreyya Önder has said that Öcalan will issue a letter instead of a video message.

As such a potential Newroz message would be expected to have a positive impact on the ongoing peace talks, Önder, who visited Öcalan with a delegation of HDP deputies on Saturday, stressed that the letter that Öcalan is currently composing will include extensive reviews regarding the settlement process.

“In his letter, Öcalan is preparing to share his ideas with the Turkish people and world public regarding concrete steps for solution of the Kurdish problem. The letter will include the main principles of the path to the peace,” Önder noted.

Yet another matter that Önder touched upon was the assignment of a secretariat of five prisoners for Öcalan, which the government and Öcalan previously agreed on. Öcalan and the HDP had previously named the members of the PKK leader’s planned secretariat, and the list was given to the government. The secretariat is likely to start work in the coming days and will work three or four days a week. The new team will be part of the negotiation process between the PKK and the Turkish government.

“The members of the secretariat will be sent to the prison on İmralı Island [where Öcalan is being kept] within a couple of days,” Önder said. Regarding the discussions over a video message by Öcalan, Önder said that Öcalan does not attach importance to the method of conveying his message, in a letter or via video message.

Önder also emphasized that Öcalan will also send letters to Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) President Massoud Barzani and Jalal Talabani, former Iraqi president and a Kurdish leader, addressing the issue of the elimination of the threats against Kurds in the Iraqi provinces of Mosul and Kirkuk and the Kurdish town Kobani in Syrian Kurdistan.

Since it was established in 1984 the PKK has been fighting the Turkish state, which still denies the constitutional existence of Kurds, with the aim of creating an independent Kurdish state, but now limited its demands to establish an autonomous Kurdish region and more cultural rights for ethnic Kurds, who make up around 22.5 million of the country’s 75-million population but have long been denied basic political and cultural rights, its goal to political autonomy. A large Turkey’s Kurdish community openly sympathise with PKK rebels.

Read more about Turkish-Kurdish Peace Process

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