Türkiye’s National Intelligence Organization (MIT) captured a top PKK member overseeing the terrorist group’s domestic activity and sleeper cells in an operation that spanned five years.
Engin Babayiğit, the head of the PKK’s so-called special warfare division working in tandem with sleeper cells across various cities, was apprehended at Istanbul Airport on Sept. 18 while trying to flee to Iraq.
He was in direct contact with the PKK’s top leadership in Qandil, where the terrorists moved their headquarters after years of counterterrorism operations drove their domestic activity to near extinction, during which they massacred over 40,000 people, including women, children and infants since the 1980s.
From its stronghold near the Turkish border, the group still plans and mounts attacks on Türkiye and its security forces in the region, but a significant PKK presence in the form of sleeper cells remains in Türkiye, as well.
MIT first put Babayiğit on its radar on Jan. 22, 2018, when a secret witness code-named "Hafis" mentioned him during interrogation in the southeastern province of Diyarbakır as leading the PKK’s social wing in the city.
He was in charge of PKK activities such as positioning PKK "cadres" in the Diyarbakır city center, facilitating communication through live messengers to avoid exposure, cultivating public support for PKK and providing new cell houses and logistics needs of PKK members.
MIT learned that the PKK was inspired by the clandestine services division the Gülenist Terrorist Group (FETÖ) used and had established a so-called special warfare division, a civilian paramilitary structure, to operate underground in Turkish cities years ago.
The agency began closely monitoring this division’s activity to discern its leader using technical, cyber tools and field agents reporting intelligence.
All information obtained and analyzed at a sensitive intelligence directorate in the capital, Ankara, confirmed Babayiğit as the head of this division.
As soon as he entered Türkiye on March 6, 2022, he was placed under close surveillance and his every move was watched.
During his time in the country, Babayiğit never attended any legal or illegal meetings organized by the PKK, but he was found transporting intelligence notes and materials between Türkiye and Iraq. Whenever he traveled to Iraq, he was put through training.
When he appeared for passport control six hours before his flight from Istanbul to Irbil at 12:25 a.m. on Sept. 19, 2023, MIT agents watched him for five hours before coordinating Istanbul Airport Police Department officers to detain him.
Babayiğit was later questioned by the Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office in Istanbul, where he invoked his right to stay silent. He was ultimately arrested and sent to prison.
The PKK’s special warfare division was founded as a civilian backup to the PKK’s rural branches, which engage in direct clashes and attacks. These terrorist cells conduct surveillance, collect intelligence and are capable of armed and bomb sabotage.
To maintain their cover and conceal bombs or equipment, most of these cells operate independently from one another across dozens of Turkish provinces, chiefly Istanbul, Izmir, Ankara, Mersin, Adana, Gaziantep, Diyarbakır and Kocaeli.
According to the intelligence report, the underground scheme has two passive wings called "Narrow Cells" and "Leading Cores" consisting of three people and never contact each other.
Narrow cell operatives only use live couriers if need be, and every member has a code name.
These terrorists map out key public buildings, city security cameras, and police and military locations, including how many personnel guard them and scout potential targets ahead of attacks in their respective provinces.
The Turkish intelligence agency has been expanding its operational capabilities against terrorist groups like the PKK, Daesh and FETÖ, which orchestrated the defeated yet bloody 2016 coup in Türkiye, in recent years.
Along with the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK), it regularly conducts cross-border operations in northern Iraq and Syria, where terrorists have hideouts and bases.
Türkiye also battles the PKK’s Syrian branch, the YPG, in the country’s north.