Turkey offers $94,000 bounty for to

[kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu]

From: Arm The Spirit <ats at etext.org>
Subject: Turkey offers $94,000 bounty for top Kurd rebel

Turkey offers $94,000 bounty for top Kurd rebel

    TUNCELI, Turkey, Nov 21 (Reuter) - Turkish authorities are
offering a 5 billion lira ($94,000) cash bounty for information
leading to the capture -- dead or alive-- of an elusive Kurdish
rebel commander, provincial officials said on Tuesday.
    The governor's office in the eastern province of Erzurum
will reward anyone with information leading to Kurdistan Workers
Party (PKK) regional commander Semdin Sakik, the officials said.
    ``The reward is being offered because he is one of the PKK's
top men,'' an official told Reuters by phone from Erzurum.
    Known also as ``Fingerless Zeki'' after he lost a thumb
while firing a rocket in Northern Iraq, Sakik has evaded several
large security operations aimed at capturing him.
    The Kurdish fighter is based mainly in the rugged province
of Tunceli but commands guerrilla forces in much of eastern
Turkey.
    More than 18,000 people have been killed in the rebels'
11-year-old campaign for independence or autonomy in southeast
Turkey.

Reuter N:Copyright 1995, Reuters News Service