One year after the assassination of Deniz Cevdet Bülbün ((Deniz Hêvî) in the KNK office in Hewlêr (Erbil), two of those involved in the attack were sentenced to life imprisonment on 10 September.

The Kurdistan National Congress (KNK) issued a statement demanding that those who commissioned the attack by the Turkish Secret Service MIT be punished and that the network of agents in the region be uncovered in order to prevent further attacks. Intelligence services from many countries are active in South Kurdistan, and the MIT in particular has built up a terrorist network, the KNK warned in a statement.

The KNK said that Bülbün was shot by a MIT killer who has not yet been caught. After the murder, two suspects were arrested in Hewlêr and the trial was postponed several times. "One year after the crime, the Hewlêr Criminal Court announced a verdict in the second session. On 10 September 2024, the two defendants, C.S. and N.E., were sentenced to life imprisonment under Article 2 of the Kurdistan Region's Anti-Terrorism Law," the KNK said.

In addition, the accused were sentenced to a further ten and seven years in prison for espionage and endangering security. The two defendants confessed to working for  MIT and to having assisted the killer. They also admitted to having set up spy networks in the Kurdistan Region and monitoring dozens of people on the instructions of the MIT.

The KNK pointed out that, according to the investigations by the security authorities, another eight suspects are being sought in connection with the murder of Bülbün. In addition to the main perpetrator, there are other MIT officials and employees.

The KNK said: "We will pursue this case to the end. All those involved and responsible for the terrorist attack must be exposed, brought to justice and punished. Otherwise, a huge spy network led by the MIT will carry out further acts of terror in the future. The task of the Kurdistan Region government is not to open the door to intelligence organizations, but to expose them and prevent crimes."

Deniz Cevdet Bülbün

Deniz Cevdet Bülbün was shot dead on 18 September 2023 in the KNK office in the Raperîn district of Hewlêr. The 36-year-old originally came from Yüksekova (Gever) in North Kurdistan and fled political persecution by the Turkish regime.

In 2011, Bülbün was arrested and spent almost a year and a half in prison in Van. After his release, he worked on the board of the Kurdî-Der ​​association in Yüksekova and gave Kurdish lessons. Between 2014 and 2016, he taught at the Gever Political Academy, and was a member of the city's self-governing people's council.

Because he was wanted after the resistance for the self-government in 2015, he went to Rojava in 2016 and continued his research on Kurdish language and culture. In 2019, he moved in Hewlêr, where he worked for the KNK.