Cemil Bayık

Cemil Bayık (* 1955 in Keban , Elazığ Province ) is a founding member of the Kurdistan Workers' Party and co-chair of the Executive Council of Koma Civakên Kurdistan , the umbrella organization of the PKK. His fighting name and alias is Cuma.

Little is known about the life of Bayık. He was born the son of Mustafa Bayık. Cemil Bayık has three brothers and one sister. His father expelled him in 1976. Bayık initially only mastered the Turkish language before turning to his Kurdish origins. Bayık came into contact with Chairman Apo, Abdullah Öcalan , through his friend Kemal Pir .

Bayık joined the group around Öcalan in 1976. He was involved in founding the party and, together with Şahin Dönmez and Öcalan, was a member of the party's first “Central Committee”. He led the military wing of the organization, the Artêşa Rizgariya Gelê Kurdistan (ARGK, translated People's Liberation Army of Kurdistan ). For many years Bayık was considered number two within the PKK. After Öcalan's capture, he took over the management of the organization at short notice. He survived various power struggles within the PKK leadership.

Bayık was elected as co-chair of the Executive Council of Koma Civakên Kurdistan (KCK) in July 2013 . In April 2015 he said in an interview with the broadcasters WDR and NDR: “We don't want to fight Turkey anymore. We say: It's enough to fight. ”His organization is no longer striving for a state of its own, but for a political solution. Previously, Öcalan had called on the PKK to hold a congress and resolve to lay down arms.

An interview that the German-Turkish journalist Deniz Yücel conducted with Bayık was classified as terrorist propaganda by the Turkish state and served as an excuse for Yücel's arrest in 2017.

The Kurdish news agency ANF reported that agents from the Turkish secret service MIT tried to kidnap or kill Bayık in August 2017. On November 6, 2018, the US announced that it was providing $ 4 million as part of its Reward for Justice program for information leading to Bayık's arrest.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} welt.de 23 August 2015: "Yes, there were internal executions"
2. ↑ [1]  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
3. ↑ Martin van Bruinessen : Kurdish Ethno-nationalism Versus Nation-building States. University of Michigan 2000, p. 286
4. ^ Michael M. Gunter : The Kurds and the Future of Turkey. New York 1997, p. 26
5. ^ Paul J. White: Primitive Rebels Or Revolutionary Modernisers? Zed Books 2001, p. 189
6. ↑ wdr.de April 9, 2015: PKK apologizes to Germany
7. ↑ Deutsche Welle / Baha Güngör March 21, 2015: Erdogan gambled away trust (comment)
8. ^ Günter Wallraff: He hopes and scoffs, in: Der Spiegel 8/2018, p. 128.
9. ^ Rainer Hermann: Predictable Advances, in: FAZ, January 25, 2018, p. 2.
10. ↑ US offers rewards of up to $ 5 million for information on 3 senior PKK leaders . In: The Defense Post . November 6, 2018 ( thedefensepost.com [accessed November 8, 2018]).
11. ^ Rewards for Justice - Wanted for Terrorism - Cemil Bayik. Retrieved November 8, 2018 .