Iran’s capture claim puts Ankara on alert

A senior Iranian lawmaker’s claim that the number-two figure in a terrorist group had been captured by Iranian security forces put Ankara on alert Sunday due to ambiguity over the identity of the captured terrorist.

The state news agency claimed the figure was Murat Karayılan, the number-two in the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, after imprisoned leader Abdullah Öcalan. Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu stepped in to clarify the confusion through a phone call to his Iranian counterpart, but received only a denial that Iran had captured Karayılan, with no more information on whom the country might have arrested.

The development has added fuel to Turkish officials’ contention that there is a lack of cooperation between the two countries in the fight against the PKK and the Party for Free Life in Kurdistan, or PJAK, a banned group with alleged links to the PKK.

The two-day-long confusion over the fate of Karayılan began Saturday when Turkish state broadcast TRT reported the capture of one of the terrorists most wanted by Ankara. On Sunday, Alaaddin Bourujerdi, head of the Iranian Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, confirmed the capture of the PKK’s number two but did not name Karayılan.

“The news is true. Iranian intelligence forces have arrested the terrorist group’s number two,” the senior Iranian MP told reporters in a press conference Sunday.

Bourujerdi’s statement sparked a flood of diplomatic traffic between Ankara and Tehran starting at noon Sunday to try and confirm the account. Amid growing speculation about the reports coming from Tehran, Davutoğlu phoned his Iranian counterpart, Ali Akbar Salehi, while the Turkish ambassador to Tehran visited Bourujerdi in person to verify the news stories. Bourujerdi reportedly told Ambassador Ümit Yardım that he “did not say ‘Karayılan was captured’ but said ‘Karayılan should be captured.’”

Two media outlets with alleged links to the PKK, the Fırat News Agency and Roj TV, denied reports of Karayılan’s arrest while promising to broadcast an interview with the PKK number two late Sunday.

With all relevant parties having denied the capture of Karayılan, questions remained about who was taken into custody by Iranian forces. There was no report identifying the captured senior terrorist but some sources said he could be the PJAK’s number two responsible for operations in Iran’s Mako region.

The unconfirmed accounts of Karayılan’s capture drew attention once again to the fight against the PKK, especially in Iraq and Iran. Iranian forces have escalated operations to crack down on the PJAK in its territories and within Iraq since mid-July. Turkish officials have complained about the lack of information provided by Iran on the technical details of its offensive against the PKK. The confusion over Karayılan’s purported capture was further deepened Sunday afternoon when the Anatolia news agency misreported Bourujerdi’s statement. The agency corrected its story two hours later and omitted Karayılan’s name from Bourujerdi’s quote.


/Hurriyet Daily News/