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Bahoz Erdal

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PKK military commander
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Bahoz Erdal
فەهمان حوسێن
Born
Fehman Hüseyin


(1969-08-03) 3 August 1969 (age 57)

Al-Malikiyah, Al-Hasakah Governorate, Syria
Other nameBahoz Erdal
EducationDamascus University
Military career
Allegiance PKK
Service years
1992–2026
Rank
Commander
NicknameDr. Bahoz Erdal
Unit HPG
Known forMilitary commander of the PKK
Conflicts

Bahoz Erdal, also known as Fahman Husein (Kurdish: Fehman Hûseyn, also spelled Fehman Hüseyin[1]) (born 3 August 1969), is a commander in the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). He is originally from Al-Malikiyah (Kurdish: Dêrik) in Syria. In 2016 the Turkish state claimed him to have been killed, although this later turned out to be false.

Biography

Erdal, a Syrian Kurd, was born[to whom?] in Dêrik (Al-Malikiyah), Syrian Kurdistan, in 1969.[2] He studied to be a veterinarian[when?] at the University of Damascus School of Medicine, thus nicknamed 'Doctor'.[3]

Following PKK's leader Abdullah Öcalan's capture in 1999, he shared the leadership of the PKK with Murat Karayılan and Cemil Bayık, commanding the armed branch HPG particularly.[4][5][better source needed]

He served as the head of the People's Defence Forces (HPG), the PKK's armed wing from June 2004[6] until July 2009, when he was replaced by Sofi Nurettin.[7]

Since 2004 he has been part of the three-man PKK Executive Committee, including acting PKK leader Murat Karayılan and PKK co-founder Cemil Bayik,[8] who preceded Bahoz Erdal as the PKK's military commander.[6]

Some Turkish security analysts claimed in 2011 that Erdal is the leader of the Kurdistan Freedom Hawks (TAK).[9]

Since 28 October 2015, he has been in the red category of the "Most Wanted Terrorists" list published by the Ministry of Interior of the Republic of Turkey. The Ministry announced that a reward of up to 10 million TL will be given to the person or persons who catch him or share information that will result in his capture.[10]

He appeared on a video in April 2017 and addressed Turkish citizens about the 2017 Turkish constitutional referendum.[11]

It has been claimed that Erdal was among a group of PKK leaders in command positions of the People's Defense Units, the armed wing of the Syrian Democratic Union Party during the Syrian Civil War.[12]

Alleged July 2016 assassination

According to Turkey's official state news agency Anadolu Agency, and the Daily Sabah citing Anadolu Agency, he was killed in Syria on 8 July 2016. A person under the name of Halid el Hasekavi, spokesman of an anti-regime armed group named Tel Hamis Brigades, told an AA correspondent that Hüseyin was allegedly targeted near northern Syrian city of Qamishli. He claimed that Hüseyin's car was blown up at 8:30 p.m. on 8 July, being killed along with eight people including his guards.[4][5][12] On 12 July, the government aligned daily newspaperYeni Şafak quoted the Turkish MİT intelligence service as the source of this story,[13] whilst sources close to PKK and Kurdish freedom movement denied these claims, with a spokesperson for the HPG stating that “Our comrade commander Bahoz Erdal is continuing with his duty in Kurdistan.”[14][15][16]

The story was firmly debunked a day later however, when Erdal gave a radio interview to Voice of Kurdistan radio, stating that "the AKP government is lying, it is stuck. Whenever the Rojava revolution takes a step forward, whenever the Islamic State is struck, fear sets into the Turkish government and it attacks Rojava.", going on to elaborate, "In the past few days Turkish media has been saying that I was targeted in an attack in Rojava, near Qamishli. I really didn't want to respond to these claims. The Kurdish people know that the colonialist Turkish state is trying to hide the truth. They are trying to trick the people and society with lies and propaganda."[17] and later thoroughly deconstructed as fake by international media.[12][citation needed]

References

  1. ^ "56 PKK militants killed in last ten days". World Bulletin. 2 January 2013. Archived from the original on April 23, 2013. Retrieved 12 January 2013.
  2. ^ Hamidi, Ibrahim. "Back to Qandil: PKK fighters finally leaving Syria". en.majalla.com. Retrieved 2026-07-16.
  3. ^ Sönmez, Göktuğ (2017-03-02). "Vying for Power in the PKK: A Profile of Senior Commander Dr. Bahoz Erdal". Jamestown. Retrieved 2026-07-16.
  4. ^ a b AA, Daily Sabah with (2016-07-09). "Turkish intel verifies death of PKK terrorist group's armed wing commander Bahoz Erdal". Daily Sabah. Retrieved 2026-07-16.
  5. ^ a b "'Bahoz Erdal' öldürüldü" ['Bahoz Erdal', a high-ranking PKK leader, has been killed.]. Anadolu Ajansı (in Turkish). Retrieved 2026-07-16.
  6. ^ a b Uslu, Emrullah (May 20, 2008). "Leading PKK Commander Cemil Bayik Crosses into Iran". The Jamestown Foundation. Archived from the original on 18 June 2009. Retrieved 23 January 2015.
  7. ^ "How Kurdish PKK Militants Are Exploiting the Crisis in Syria to Achieve Regional Autonomy". The Jamestown Foundation. Retrieved 23 January 2015.
  8. ^ "New PKK Leadership Takes Over Insurgency". Middle East Newsline. Archived from the original on 26 June 2015. Retrieved 20 August 2015. Instead, the PKK has been taken over by three senior operatives. The report, authored by analyst Gareth Jenkins, identified them as PKK Executive Committee Murat Karayilan, co-founder Cemil Bayik and PKK commander Fehman Huseyin.
  9. ^ Eccarius-Kelly, Vera (2011). The Militant Kurds: A Dual Strategy for Freedom. ABC-CLIO. p. 212. ISBN 978-0-313-36468-6. Retrieved 23 January 2015.
  10. ^ "Interior Ministry issues a list of Turkey's most wanted terrorists". Daily Sabah. 28 October 2015. Archived from the original on 29 October 2015. Retrieved 2015-10-28.
  11. ^ "Terör elebaşı Bahoz Erdal'dan referandum tehdidi" [Terrorist leader Bahoz Erdal issues referendum threat.]. Haber7. Archived from the original on 16 April 2017.
  12. ^ a b c Tastekin, Fehim (July 15, 2016). "Anatomy of a Turkish assassination fable". Al-Monitor. Archived from the original on 18 May 2021. Retrieved 2016-07-22.
  13. ^ Çelik, Ersin (2016-07-12). "A'Death of PKK commander Bahoz Erdal confirmed'". Yeni Şafak. Archived from the original on 6 December 2025. Retrieved 2016-07-22.
  14. ^ "Bahoz Erdal li ser kar e" [Bahoz Erdal is at work.]. ANF. 9 July 2016. Archived from the original on 6 October 2025. Retrieved 9 July 2016. The news from the official Turkish state news agency AA, which said that one of the HPG commanders, Dr. Bahoz Erdal, had been "killed", has once again been denied.
  15. ^ "PKK denies Turkish media reports of senior leader's death". Rudaw. Archived from the original on 16 July 2026. Retrieved 10 July 2016.
  16. ^ "PKK denies death of its military commander - ARA News". 10 July 2016. Archived from the original on July 13, 2016. Retrieved 10 July 2016.
  17. ^ "'Killed' PKK Commander Bahoz Erdal Speaks to Kurdish Radio". kurdishquestion.com. 2016-07-13. Archived from the original on 2017-04-12. Retrieved 2016-07-26.
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Preceded by Military Commander of the PKK
June 2004 – June 2009 		Succeeded by
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