Sakik, Semdin

(1959- )

   Semdin Sakik, also known as Parmaksiz (Fingerless) Zeki because he lost a finger while firing a rocket, was a hard-line commander of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in the Diyarbakir (Amed) area of southeastern Turkey. He is often credited with sabotaging the PKK's unilateral cease-fire called in March 1993 by killing some 33 unarmed Turkish soldiers along the Bingol-Elazig highway in May 1993.

   Early in 1998, Sakik formally broke away from the PKK amid accusations from its leader Abdullah Ocalan. Shortly afterward, Sakik was captured in northern Iraq by a Turkish commando unit. He was tried in Turkey and sentenced to death, but for political reasons the sentence was not carried. He remains in prison as of 2010.

   Sakik's brother, Sirri Sakik, was a member of the pro-Kurdish Demokrasi Parti (DEP) who sat in the Turkish parliament until expelled in 1994. He was sentenced to prison along with several other DEP members of parliament—including Leyla Zana—for treason.