ATAC, HALIL

(Abu Bakir)

   Halil Atac has been a leading member of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) for many years. In the 1990s, he served on the party's leadership council (politburo) and was also chosen to serve on its presidential council to act for Abdullah Ocalan, the PKK's leader, after his capture in 1999. During the 1990s, Atac also commanded Kurdistan Peoples Liberation Army (ARGK) units in the Turkish provinces of Batman and Bitlis, called Garzan by the Kurds.