Region:
Middle East
Status:
Dormant
Established:
1974
Leader:
Unknown
Strength:
Approximately 10,000 to 15,000 guerrillas. Has thousands
of sympathizers in Turkey and Europe.
History/Notes:
Geography, politics and history have conspired to render
30 million Kurds the largest stateless people in the Middle East. The Government
of Turkey has long denied the Kurdish population, located largely in the
southeast, basic political, cultural, and linguistic rights. As part of
its fight against the PKK, the Government forcibly displaced noncombatants,
failed to resolve extrajudicial killings, tortured civilians, and abridged
freedom of expression. The PKK committed widespread abuses, including the
frequent murder of noncombatants, as part of its terrorism against the
Government and civilians, mostly Kurds. Estimates of the total number of
villagers forcibly evacuated from their homes since the conflict began
vary widely from 330,000 to 2 million. A credible estimate given by a former
Member of Parliament from the region is around 560,000.
The PKK was established as a Marxist-Leninist insurgent group primarily composed of Turkish Kurds, in recent years the it has moved beyond rural-based insurgent activities to include urban terrorism.
Since 1984 the separatist PKK has waged a violent terrorist insurgency in southeast Turkey, directed against both security forces and civilians, almost all of them Kurds, whom the PKK accuses of cooperating with the State. The government of Turkey has in turn waged an intense campaign to suppress PKK terrorism, targeting active PKK units as well as persons they believe support or sympathize with the PKK. In the process, both government forces and PKK terrorists have committed human rights abuses against each other and noncombatants. According to the Government, from 1984 through November 1997, 26,532 PKK members, 5,185 security force members, and 5,209 civilians lost their lives in the fighting.
A state of emergency, declared in 1987, continues in six southeastern provinces facing substantial PKK terrorist violence. Parliament voted in October to lift the state of emergency in Bingol, Batman, and Bitlis provinces. A regional governor for the state of emergency has authority over the ordinary governors in the six provinces, and six adjacent ones, for security matters. The state of emergency allows him to exercise certain quasi-martial law powers, including restrictions on the press and removal from the area of persons whose activities are deemed detrimental to public order. The state of emergency decree was renewed for 4 months for all provinces in November.
Stated Goal(s):
Seeks to set up an independent Kurdish state in southeastern
Turkey, where there is a predominantly Kurdish population.
Location:
Turkey
Area of Operation:
Turkey, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia.
Terrorist Acts:
Support:
Receives safehaven and modest aid from Syria, Iraq, and
Iran.
Other Links:
Berxwedan:
Documents from the Kurdish national liberation movement
National
Liberation Front Of Kurdistan (ERNK)
People's
Liberation Army Of Kurdistan (ARGK)
KURD-L
Archive
Arm.The.Spirit/Kurdistan/PKK
The
Workers' Party of Kurdistan (PKK) - Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs
A
Report on the PKK and Terrorism Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs
A
Case Study of the PKK in Turkey / by Foundation For Middle East and Balkan
Studies
American
Kurdish Information Network (AKIN)
[unrelated to PKK]
Kurdistan
Human Rights Project
[unrelated to PKK]
aka
Kurdistan
[unrelated to PKK]
KURDISTAN
WEB
The Kurdish People's News, Information and Documentation
Database
Press
Agency Ozgurluk Politics in Turkey:
The Struggle for Human Rights, Justice and Democracy
Washington
Kurdish Institute (WKI)
[a non-profit, research and educational organization
whose motto is "For Kurdish People Worldwide". ]