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The Kurdistan Workers' Party (Kurdish: Partiya Karkerên Kurdistan or PKK, also called KADEK, Kongra-Gel, and KGK[8]) is a militant Kurdish organization founded in the 1970s and led by Abdullah Öcalan who is at present in a Turkish prison. The PKK's ideology is founded on revolutionary Marxism-Leninism and Kurdish nationalism. The PKK's goal has been to create an independent, socialist Kurdish state in Kurdistan, an area that comprises parts of southeastern Turkey, northeastern Iraq, northeastern Syria and northwestern Iran; where the Kurdish population is the majority. This goal has now been moderated to claiming cultural and political rights for the Kurdish population within the state of Turkey.[1]
The PKK has widespread, but far from universal, support among the Kurdish population in Turkey and limited support in other parts of Kurdistan.[9] It is listed as a terrorist organization internationally by a number of states and organizations, including the United States,[7][8] NATO and the European Union[10]. The organisation is listed as one of the 12 active terrorist organisation in Turkey as of 2007 according to the Counter-Terrorism and Operations Department of Directorate General for Security (Turkish police).[11] Turkish sources have labelled the PKK as an ethnic secessionist organization that uses terrorism and the threat of force against both civilian[10][12] and military targets for the purpose of achieving its political goal. More than 37,000 people have died since the beginning of the PKK's armed struggle in 1984.[13] In the process, the Turkish armed forces have destroyed some 8000 Kurdish communities and created 3 to 4 million refugees.
The PKK's core was originally a group called the Ankara Democratic Patriotic Association of Higher Education or Apocular ("Apoists"), which was made up largely of students, led by Abdullah Öcalan (nicknamed "Apo"). Although originally from Ankara, the group soon moved its focus to south-east Turkey, and its large Kurdish population, where they began organising. With the official release of the "Proclamation of Independence of PKK" on 27 October 1978, the group became known as the Kurdistan Workers Party. With its largely communist ideology, the PKK soon found itself in conflict with right-wing entities.
In 1979, Mehmet Celal Bucak was condemned for "exploiting the peasants," and "collaborating". The PKK attempted to assassinate him, but failed. This was the first violent high-profile public action undertaken by the PKK, and it marked a period of intense urban warfare between radical political elements in Turkey. From 1978 to 1982, the Turkish National Security Council recorded 43,000 incidents it described as terrorism. As part of the conflict, ex-prime minister Nihat Erim was assassinated in 1980 by Dev Sol. The military coup that same year largely ended the conflict, with members of the PKK being subject to capital punishment, going to prison, or fleeing to Syria.
On November 10, 1980, the Turkish Consulate in Strasbourg, France was bombed, causing significant material damage but no injuries. The ASALA and the PKK claimed responsibility. In a telephone call to the Agence France-Presse office, a spokesman said the blast was a joint operation and marked the start of a "fruitful collaboration" between the two nationalist organizations.[15]
Starting in 1984, the PKK transformed itself into a paramilitary organisation (largely based in and supported by Iran, Iraq and Syria)[citation needed], as it launched conventional attacks as well as bombings against Turkish governmental installations, military and civilian targets, many of whom were connected to the Southeastern Anatolia Project (GAP), a multi-sector integrated regional development project based on the concept of sustainable development for more than nine million people living in the southeastern Anatolia region. The PKK also moved to a less centralized format, taking up operations in a variety of European and Middle Eastern countries.
Following the collapse of the USSR, the PKK largely abandoned its communist roots, attempting to better accommodate nationalistic views and Islamic beliefs. In the mid 1990s, it also began to shift from conventional bombing to suicide bombing, launching 15 such attacks between 1995 and 1999. The majority (11 of 15) of the suicide bombers were women.
In the late 1990s, the Turkish army began to gain the upper hand in its ground war with the PKK and post-Cold War shifts in international politics resulted in the group losing much of its support among other states. With downgraded security concerns, the Turkish parliament began a controlled process of dismantling the legal control, using the term "normalization" or "rapprochement" depending on the sides of the issue. A ban on publishing using Kurdish language (1983) was dropped in 1991, with more thorough reforms, such as the lifting of the ban on broadcasting in Kurdish, adopted in the 2000s with the decrease in PKK's activities.[16]
FULL ARTICLE: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurdistan_Workers_Party
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The PKK has widespread, but far from universal, support among the Kurdish population in Turkey and limited support in other parts of Kurdistan.[9] It is listed as a terrorist organization internationally by a number of states and organizations, including the United States,[7][8] NATO and the European Union[10]. The organisation is listed as one of the 12 active terrorist organisation in Turkey as of 2007 according to the Counter-Terrorism and Operations Department of Directorate General for Security (Turkish police).[11] Turkish sources have labelled the PKK as an ethnic secessionist organization that uses terrorism and the threat of force against both civilian[10][12] and military targets for the purpose of achieving its political goal. More than 37,000 people have died since the beginning of the PKK's armed struggle in 1984.[13] In the process, the Turkish armed forces have destroyed some 8000 Kurdish communities and created 3 to 4 million refugees.
The PKK's core was originally a group called the Ankara Democratic Patriotic Association of Higher Education or Apocular ("Apoists"), which was made up largely of students, led by Abdullah Öcalan (nicknamed "Apo"). Although originally from Ankara, the group soon moved its focus to south-east Turkey, and its large Kurdish population, where they began organising. With the official release of the "Proclamation of Independence of PKK" on 27 October 1978, the group became known as the Kurdistan Workers Party. With its largely communist ideology, the PKK soon found itself in conflict with right-wing entities.
In 1979, Mehmet Celal Bucak was condemned for "exploiting the peasants," and "collaborating". The PKK attempted to assassinate him, but failed. This was the first violent high-profile public action undertaken by the PKK, and it marked a period of intense urban warfare between radical political elements in Turkey. From 1978 to 1982, the Turkish National Security Council recorded 43,000 incidents it described as terrorism. As part of the conflict, ex-prime minister Nihat Erim was assassinated in 1980 by Dev Sol. The military coup that same year largely ended the conflict, with members of the PKK being subject to capital punishment, going to prison, or fleeing to Syria.
On November 10, 1980, the Turkish Consulate in Strasbourg, France was bombed, causing significant material damage but no injuries. The ASALA and the PKK claimed responsibility. In a telephone call to the Agence France-Presse office, a spokesman said the blast was a joint operation and marked the start of a "fruitful collaboration" between the two nationalist organizations.[15]
Starting in 1984, the PKK transformed itself into a paramilitary organisation (largely based in and supported by Iran, Iraq and Syria)[citation needed], as it launched conventional attacks as well as bombings against Turkish governmental installations, military and civilian targets, many of whom were connected to the Southeastern Anatolia Project (GAP), a multi-sector integrated regional development project based on the concept of sustainable development for more than nine million people living in the southeastern Anatolia region. The PKK also moved to a less centralized format, taking up operations in a variety of European and Middle Eastern countries.
Following the collapse of the USSR, the PKK largely abandoned its communist roots, attempting to better accommodate nationalistic views and Islamic beliefs. In the mid 1990s, it also began to shift from conventional bombing to suicide bombing, launching 15 such attacks between 1995 and 1999. The majority (11 of 15) of the suicide bombers were women.
In the late 1990s, the Turkish army began to gain the upper hand in its ground war with the PKK and post-Cold War shifts in international politics resulted in the group losing much of its support among other states. With downgraded security concerns, the Turkish parliament began a controlled process of dismantling the legal control, using the term "normalization" or "rapprochement" depending on the sides of the issue. A ban on publishing using Kurdish language (1983) was dropped in 1991, with more thorough reforms, such as the lifting of the ban on broadcasting in Kurdish, adopted in the 2000s with the decrease in PKK's activities.[16]
FULL ARTICLE: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurdistan_Workers_Party
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