Iraqi member of PKK handed 32 life sentences

VAN – Anatolia News Agency

Hürriyet photo

A member of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) was sentenced to 32 lifetime imprisonments and 644 years in prison by a Van court today.

Iraqi militant Bawer Barzan participated in deadly attacks against the Turkish Military in the Şemdinli, Dağlıca, and Yüksekova outposts over the past several years.

Barzan, who denied the allegations, was found guilty and issued 32 lifetime imprisonments, on top of a sentence of 644 years, three months and 20 days imprisonment, on charges of “attempted murder, causing damage to property and carrying explosives and forbidden arms.”

Barzan allegedly participated in an attack that killed 12 soldiers in the eastern province of Hakkari’s Yüksekova district on Oct. 21, 2007, and another attack on Oct. 3, 2008, on Şemdinli’s Aktütün outpost, which killed 29 Turkish soldiers and injured 38 others.

He was also held responsible for the murder of two Azerbaijani women in 2009.

The PKK is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union.