Peoples' United Revolutionary Movement (HBDH) Joint Command released a statement claiming responsibility for the action against Turkish soldiers in Trabzon's Maçka district, saying the followings;

“On May 16, a unit of our forces carried out an action targeting a Turkish military team engaged in ambushment near the Sumela Monestry in Trabzon's Maçka district. Effective strikes at close range left 4 soldiers dead and 1 other wounded.

While the other soldiers in the team fled the scene, the Turkish army retrieved the dead and wounded soldiers following the action, and launched an operation afterwards. This operation still continues. The action was carried out in memory of the comrades martyred in Dersim and Martyr Ulaş Bayraktaroğlu.”