Wanted PKK suspect captured in southeast Turkey

ANKARA

A senior PKK terrorist suspect, wanted for plotting a gendarmerie commander's falling martyr, was captured by Turkish security forces Wednesday, local officials said.

Mehmet Hayme, said to be a high-ranking member of the PKK terrorist organization, was among four suspects captured in Mus province, southeast Turkey, the provincial governor’s office said in a statement.

Another four were killed during the operation, the statement added.

A 1 million Turkish lira ($352,000) reward had been issued for Hayme, who is alleged to have planned the killing of gendarmerie commander Aslan Kulaksiz on July 27 last year.

The governor’s office said the three other captured suspects had been acting as lookouts. Several weapons were seized during the operation.

The PKK - designated as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and EU - resumed its 30-year armed campaign against the Turkish state in July. Since then more than 350 members of the security forces have been martyred and thousands of PKK terrorists killed.

Elsewhere in the southeast, a village guard was martyred in Bitlis province and four police officers and a soldier were wounded in Hakkari province, security sources said on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on speaking publicly.