Following the publication of a conversation between Human Rights Watch of Iran and a number of former members of the PKK and the statement of some cases about the commanders of that group, including “Leila Afrin”, “Hassan Mahmoudi”, “Shoresh Bokan”, “Evin Sineh” and “Delkhwaz Bingol », some other members of the separatist PKK / PJAK contacted the Human Rights Watch of Iranian Kurdistan and asked for more information in this regard.

The following conversation is about one of the commanders of that group named “Zulkuf”, about whom we talked with one of the separated members of that group.

The full text of the conversation is as follows:

First, introduce yourself, where you are from and when you left the PKK, and explain about Zulkuf, who was one of the group’s commanders.

My organizational code is Shahin Mako and in 2012 I left the PKK. They sent us to Gareh district for elementary education, and I first saw him there, who was in charge of the Takoshin and Mir Khawas camp, where Zalkif was teaching history at the PKK training course. I remember him telling us about eliminating the opposition within the PKK, how it had eliminated other groups of opposition! It was essentially a warning to us new members.

Zulkuf comes from Tunceli or Dersim in Turkey and most people from there had migrated to Europe due to the pressures of the Turkish government during the reign of Atatürk, he was one of them. Zulkuf was recruited by the PKK in Europe and went to Syria with Ocalan.

What was the progress of this “PKK” commander and in what areas did he work?

As I said, he was in the field of education and taught history lessons. His place of work was also Gareh, because Gareh had the most training camps. I also stayed in that area after completing the training course, in a tabur called Siyaneh (a group of 15 people).

Zalkif referred to Samir or Bakki in PKK history, but did not explicitly say they were eliminated because he himself had killed Samir. For this reason, Zulkuf spent several years in prison.

Interestingly, if “Zulkuf” was from Iran and was released from prison, PJAK would be surprised and would spy on that person. It might not have been his role, but he was in everything, in a way, a spy for “Jamil Bayik” in different parts of the group and reported to Qandil, and he considered himself the protector of “PKK”.

I should also add that commander Zulkuf has been working in the military courts of the HPG for some time.

Do you have a memory of this person when you were in the group?

Yes, the first time I saw Reza Altun, Zulkuf had just been tried and was in the Gareh area. I later found out that both of them played an active role in assassinating dissidents inside and outside the organization.

Zulkuf was always together with Reza Altun. It was clear that Zulkuf was Reza Altun’s weapon, his pistol, who was and is an expert in assassinating and eliminating dissidents. Once I asked him how he wrestled Samir, he said I entered the house very easily with a gun and I killed him, and now I will do it again if necessary.

Do you have anything to say about “PKK” and PJAK, please.

I was an Iranian member of the PKK who was deceived by PJAK members. They said we were fighting against Iran, but that was not the case.

I had not seen a gun until then and I did not know about those groups, I had only heard their names in our border area. Once, while grazing sheep, they forced a sheep of mine and then said, “Tell the wolf has eaten it!” The second time they came to me, they said you do not want a better future and a better job? I was scared and said why not.

They took me with them, I remember I left the sheep and did not give any information to the family! When I returned, my father said that they’d found the sheep alone and had looked for me for days, fearing I had fallen down from a high place.

In short, I wanted to say that they take full advantage of the children of these areas, like me, who was sent to Gare and then the Cudi mountains in Turkey. God helped me and saved me from death. I would also like to say that the PKK does not accept any ideology other than what it says, the likes of Samirs, who claimed that he was better than Ocalan, were eliminated from the organization.

On the other hand, PJAK’s only job is to recruit troops for the PKK, which will eventually send them to Turkey and Syria, claiming to have been at war with Iran!

I think other people know them well and do not trust these groups. It is unfortunate to say that many families migrated to the cities to prevent their children from being abducted. I think it is necessary for the Iranian government to take serious action in this matter. They threaten the people and extort money, and they even killed the student of our village in front of his children’s wife.