Turkey’s state-run news agency reports 2019 PKK militant killing as 'breaking news’

Turkey's state-run Anadolu Agency (AA) reported today on the killing of a high-ranking Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) militant in Iraq’s Kurdistan region. However, it has come to light that the incident actually occurred in 2019. 

According to AA's report, Hülya Mercan, using the code name Peyman Bagok, was allegedly killed in an operation in the Metina region of Kurdistan, a result of coordinated efforts between the country’s intelligence agency and the military. 

The report was widely disseminated as a "breaking" story by numerous media outlets. 

On a PKK-affiliated website, Mercan is listed as having "martyred" on November 12, 2019, in a region controlled by the PKK in Kurdistan. This information was disclosed by the site in November 2022. During that period, there were reports in the Turkish media speculating about the PKK concealing this death for three years. 

AA reported the killing as part of Turkey’s retaliation to the recent PKK attacks targeting Turkey’s bases in the region, which resulted in the killing of 21 soldiers over the past three weeks. Turkey has launched retaliatory strikes in Kurdistan, as well as the Kurdish-held parts of Syria. (VC/VK)