Uncertainty continues on nationality of 13th man killed in Gara

Following the identification of 12 Turkish men who died in northern Iraq’s Gara region last week, Turkish authorities still haven’t released additional details on the 13th man, who is only said to not have been a Turkish citizen, journalist Müyesser Yıldız wrote in news website OdaTV on Tuesday.

During a briefing of lawmakers at parliament on Tuesday, Defence Minister Hulusi Akar mentioned the foreigner for the first time, saying, Turkey had 13 martyrs, “12 of whom were Turkish citizens, and one was a foreigner”.

“There are claims that (the 13th man) was Cotyar Muhsin, from northern Iraq’s Duhoq province,” Yıldız wrote. “The 29-year-old was abducted by the PKK a year ago.”

On Feb. 14, Turkey announced that 13 civilians had been discovered in a cave in northern Iraq’s Gara region during a military operation against the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which has been fighting for Kurdish autonomy on Turkish soil for almost four decades.

Twelve of the men were identified as members of Turkish intelligence, military and police services, but are considered to be civilians by Turkey as per Ankara’s policy of cutting off ties with personnel who are captured by enemy combatants.

Meanwhile, PKK maintains that its members didn’t kill the men, who had been taken from various locations over the last six years, but that they died in a Turkish airstrike instead.

Pro-Kurdish news agency Firat News (ANF) identified the 13th man as Cotyar Muhsin Hisên in a report on Wednesday, citing PKK sources. According to the same sources, Hisên was an informer recruited by the Turkish secret service from Duhoq.