Intelligence report: PKK, FETÖ shared intelligence before coup attempt

An intelligence report revealing that the PKK had shared intelligence with the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ) before the coup attempt has come on the heels of a report that the PKK is now preparing to ask for the release of jailed PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan, a Turkish media outlet reported on Monday.

According to a column in Milliyet daily penned by prominent journalist Tolga Şardan, additional evidence regarding the PKK's intelligence sharing before the July 15 coup attempt will be released, adding that tangible evidence has already been shared with high-level officials, something that Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım has also confirmed.

The article said that intelligence units revealed that PKK administrator Murat Karayılan instructed provincial commanders connected to him "not to carry out any attacks against soldiers as they were about to stage a coup," telling them "to carry out attacks against the police and special operations teams instead." The order was given to sub-staff members of the PKK and was enforced as the organization cut the attacks a week later July 15. But after the complete failure of the coup, Karayılan gave a second set of instructions stating that "the old instructions are valid, ordering the organization to carry out attacks against soldiers and the police."

Following the latest instructions, the PKK carried out attacks in the provinces of Diyarbakır, Mardin, Van, Hakkari, Şırnak, Cizre, Yüksekova, Elazığ, Antalya and in the region of the Black Sea.Further commenting on the PKK's possible moves, the article mentioned that the increasing number of PKK attacks raises new concerns for intelligence units that currently speculate that the PKK may begin to use Öcalan as a wild card and execute future attacks on the basis of requests for "the release of the PKK leader Öcalan." As reported by intelligence units, the decision to "continue suicide bomb attacks in order to force the government to make peace and release Öcalan" was made a while ago during a meeting held in Northern Iraq among PKK terror organization administrators. The sources stated that during that same meeting, administrators agreed to give the government until Oct. 15 to release their jailed leader Öcalan, as well as a request for a team of 100 recently trained terrorists to be sent to Turkey to organize future attacks if the government refuses to comply with the PKK's request.

Drawing attention to the increasing activity of the PKK terrorist organization in rural areas, Şardan stated that it is clear that the PKK is trying to benefit from the post-coup atmosphere in the country. The failed coup attempt, carried out by FETÖ members who infiltrated the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK), has given the PKK a foothold in their plans for expansion beyond eastern and southeastern Turkey. The terrorist organization has been carrying out attacks in other regions, particularly in the eastern part of the Black Sea region where 20 different groups of PKK members have been detected.