Murat Karayılan
Murat Karayılan () (born 1954), also nicknamed Cemal, is one of the co-founders of the Kurdistan Workers' Party. He has been the organization PKK's acting leader since its original founder and leader, Abdullah Öcalan, was captured in 1999 by Turkish intelligence agents. On 2014, he left the PKK leader position and was assigned as the new commander-in-chief of the PKK's armed wing, the People's Defence Forces.

Born in Birecik, Şanlıurfa, Karayılan finished his studies at a vocational college of machinery and joined the organization PKK in 1979. He was active in his native province of Şanlıurfa until he fled to Syria at the time of the 1980 Turkish coup d'état. He has called on Kurds to stop serving in the military of Turkey, stop paying taxes and stop using the Turkish language.

On 13 December 2016, the Chief Prosecutor of Mardin issued a detention warrant for Karayılan and Duran Kalkan, another PKK commander, as part of an investigation into the killing of the Kaymakam of Derik, Muhammet Fatih Safitürk.

In March 2017, there were reports of a failed assassination attempt against Karayılan, but it was unclear as to whether the attempt was made by Turkish forces or a group within the PKK.

Murat Karayılan and two other PKK leaders are wanted by the United States Department of the Treasury and the Government of Turkey for allegedly recruiting child soldiers, targeting Turkish government officials, police and security forces, and injuring and killing civilians within the Rewards for Justice Program.

Murat Karayilan is also the author of a book called "Bir Savaşın Anatomisi" (Anatomy of War).
Q152220
Kurdistan Workers' Party
ORG
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Abdullah Öcalan
PER
Q978829
People's Defence Forces
ORG
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Birecik
LOC
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Şanlıurfa
LOC
Q388469
Şanlıurfa
LOC
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Syria
LOC
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1980 Turkish coup d'état
Concept
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Kurds
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military of Turkey
ORG
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Turkish language
Concept
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Duran Kalkan
PER
Q1137527
Kaymakam
Concept
Q176086
Derik
LOC
Q648666
United States Department of the Treasury
Concept
Q12812333
the Government of Turkey
ORG
Q3428800
Rewards for Justice Program
MEDIA
Q611767
Murat Karayılan
PER
Q611767
Murat Karayılan
PER
1954-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1954
DATE
1999-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1999
DATE
2014-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
2014
DATE
1979-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1979
DATE
1980-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1980
DATE
2016-12-13T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
13 December 2016
DATE
2017-03-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
March 2017
DATE
allegiance
date of birth
place of birth
chairperson