After introducing a regulation last month that pledges rewards of up to TL 4 million ($1.32 million) for those who provide intelligence about senior PKK militants, governmental sources said a hotline for informants will be introduced in the coming days and a budget of up to TL 500 million will be available for rewards.
The government issued a regulation in August that pledges rewards for those who supply intelligence about senior PKK militants and introduced a new method as part of Ankara's intensifying fight against terror. It was further indicated last week that some 200 prominent terrorist group members are now on the list, and they have been classified with five different colors according to their role in decision-making processes in the outlawed groups. The red group has more than 40 people, including PKK leaders Cemil Bayık and Murat Karayılan as well as members of the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), Revolutionary People's Liberation Party-Front (DHKP-C), while the blue group has three Marxist-Leninist Communist Party (MLKP) and 17 PKK members.
In order to simplify the process for informants the government is also preparing to launch a hotline and is currently building a call center that aims to collect information from informants and convey the messages to security forces. Sources hinted that a hotline will be in use in the coming days, but declined to provide the number for the hotline.
The new regulation also says that those who give tips will be paid within 10 days after the accuracy of the information is proven. Therefore, TL 100 million has already been allocated to the commission that will control the information-gathering process. Sources have also indicated that the total reward budget will increase up to TL 500 million if needed. Informants do not have to be Turkish citizens to be eligible to receive a reward.
