Mahir Koç more commonly known under his nickname Celal Başkale was a

Kurdish Kurdish may refer to: *Kurds or Kurdish people *Kurdish language ** Northern Kurdish (Kurmanji) **Central Kurdish (Sorani) **Southern Kurdish ** Laki Kurdish *Kurdish alphabets *Kurdistan, the land of the Kurdish people which includes: **Southern ...

commander of the

Kurdistan Workers' Party The Kurdistan Workers' Party, or the PKK, isDespite the PKK's 12th Congress announcing plans for total organisational dissolution, the PKK has not yet been dissolved de facto or de jure. a Kurds, Kurdish militant political organization and armed ...

, a militant organization that has been fighting the government of

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

for autonomy for

Kurdish people Kurds (), or the Kurdish people, are an Iranian peoples, Iranic ethnic group from West Asia. They are indigenous to Kurdistan, which is a geographic region spanning southeastern Turkey, northwestern Iran, northern Iraq, and northeastern Syri ...

, since 1984. It is recognized as a terrorist organisation by Turkey, the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

.European Union List of Terrorist Organisations

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, updated Council Decision 2011/70/CFSP of 31 January 2011 Başkale started out as a bodyguard for Fehman Hûseyn (Bahoz Erdal), who is the head of the Hezen Parastina Gel (HPG), the PKK's armed wing and later rose to become the commander of all PKK operations in the Black Sea Region. On December 7, 2009, he led seven PKK guerrillas in an ambush against 15 Turkish commandos known as the

Reşadiye shooting The Reşadiye shooting was an ambush that took place on December 7, 2009, at Reşadiye, Tokat Province, Turkey. Unidentified gunmen ambushed a Turkish patrol, killing seven soldiers and wounding three others. It was the region's deadliest attack ...

Tokat Tokat is a city of Turkey in the mid-Black Sea region of Anatolia. It is the seat of Tokat Province and Tokat District.

assault. Seven of the commandos were killed and three were injured.

Hürriyet ''Hürriyet'' (, ''Liberty'') is a major List of newspapers in Turkey, Turkish newspaper, founded in 1948. it had the highest circulation of any newspaper in Turkey at around 319,000. ''Hürriyet'' combines entertainment with news coverage and ...

br>Between hearts and minds
December 8, 2009 On April 11, 2012, two Turkish soldiers were killed in a PKK ambush near Çiğdemlik. In response the Turkish military started a large-scale operation against the PKK throughout

Amasya Province Amasya Province () is a province of Turkey, situated on the Yeşil River in the Black Sea Region to the north of the country. Its area is 5,628 km2, and its population is 338,267 (2022). The provincial capital is Amasya, the antique ''Amase ...

. Celal Başkale was killed by Turkish forces along with another PKK militant on April 14.

References

External links

Picture of Celal Başkale
{{DEFAULTSORT:Baskale, Celal 2012 deaths Turkish Kurdish politicians Kurdish military personnel killed in action Members of the Kurdistan Workers' Party Apoists Year of birth missing Kurdish nationalists