Kurdistan Workers Party Totally Explained

Everything about Kurdistan Workers Party totally explained

The Kurdistan Workers' Party (or PKK, also called KADEK, Kongra-Gel, and KGK and military targets for the purpose of achieving its political goal.
The PKK is listed as a terrorist organization internationally by a number of states and organizations, including the United States, NATO and the European Union.

History

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.
   Starting in 1984, the PKK transformed itself into a paramilitary organisation (largely based in and supported by Iran, Iraq and Syria), 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.
   In 1999, Turkish authorities captured Öcalan while he was being transferred by the Greek security system from the Greek Embassy in Kenya to a local airport, in an operation conducted jointly by the CIA and Turkey's MIT. He was prosecuted in Turkey and sentenced to death. He took his case against Turkey to the European Court of Human Rights. The ECtHR held that there had been violation of Article 6 (right to fair trial), as there was a military judge in the Turkish court trying Abdullah Öcalan, there was no violation of Article 2 (right to life). Last execution in Turkey took place in 1984.
   Turkey abolished the death sentence on 3 August 2002 as part of a raft of reforms aimed at preparing the country for European Union membership, and the death sentence of Öcalan was commuted to life imprisonment.
   Following a call by the captured Öcalan for a peaceful solution, the PKK found itself blacklisted in many countries. Consequently, the PKK went through a series of changes and implemented a unilateral truce, which ended in 2004. On April 2 of that year, the Council of the European Union added the PKK to its list of terrorist organisations. Later in 2004, the US Treasury moved to freeze assets of branches of the PKK.
According to Turkish officials, Massoud Barzani, leader of the Kurdish region in northern Iraq, and US forces have not done enough to combat PKK guerrillas and secure the Iraqi-Turkish border, causing tensions between the Iraqi and Turkish governments.

Recent history

1999–2004

After his capture in 1999, the group's leader Abdullah Öcalan has urged the PKK to work peacefully to attain its objectives, and the PKK declared a ceasefire in that year. It changed its name to KADEK to reflect moves towards peaceful politics and co-operation with a wider range of ideologies, but it's claimed that this change was aimed to protect itself from the legal implications of being listed as a terrorist organization. A PKK/KADEK spokesman stated that its armed wing, The People’s Defense Force, wouldn't disband or surrender its weapons, to maintain its capability of self-defense. PKK/KADEK avowing to not lay down its arms underscores that the organization maintains its capability to carry out terrorist operations.

2004–2006

The refusal of the Turkish government to issue a general amnesty to PKK operatives, the failure of the Kurdish nationalist Democratic People's Party to make an electoral breakthrough until 2007 and profound ideological disputes within the movement led to the ceasefire becoming ragged in 2003, before breaking down completely in 2004. It is also fair to state that US invasion of Iraq in 2003 also provided a better base of support for the terrorists in Northern Iraq, contributing to the rising levels of armed clashes between Kurdish terrorists and Turkish military. Since the declaration of cease-fire on August 2000, aside from a few isolated incidents, the armed conflict had come to a complete halt. Since 2004, there has been an increase in PKK attacks on the Turkish military, police, and governmental targets near the Iraqi border in the last months. Ankara is increasing its pressure on the US to obtain the go-ahead for a military strike to the PKK installations in northern Iraq. PKK claims it's only acting in self-defense and for the protection of the Kurds.
During the 2003-2005 period, the total security personnel lost (soldier, police (21), village guard (22)) is 246. The total number of personnel wounded and disabled is 147. The total armed militants captured: 1325 (359 dead, 377 live, 589 amnesty) (116 among 377 through exchange of criminals with Iran, Iraq, Syria, Greece, Azerbaijan and Ukraine). The TBMM report also expects an increase in the number of militants captured through exchange of criminals in the coming years. These numbers are presented as part of the fight on terror activities. Report also mentions growing efforts in mobilizing the criminal intelligence exchange.

2006-2007

The PKK had declared ceasefire since September 28, 2006. although Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Chief of Staff, General Yaşar Büyükanıt don't recognize such a motion. Erdoğan was quoted as saying; "A ceasefire is done between states. It isn't something for a terrorist organization," The Turkish army is calling for action against PKK training camps in northern Iraq. On September 29, 2007 "PKK terrorists set up an ambush in the Beytüşşebap district of Şırnak on Saturday. The assault claimed the lives of seven village guards, five construction workers working on a dam project to bring water to their villages and one young child, while wounding two others".
   Turkish newspaper Zaman reported: "Separatists and terrorists from the PKK used machine gun fire on a minibus carrying 13 people, killing 12 people including seven village guard militia," local governor Selahattin Aparı said on Sunday. The 13th body, belonging to a child, was located close to the scene of the attack a few hours after the governor's statement." According to PatDollard.com, Bozan Tekin, a PKK militant, claimed that the attack was in fact carried out by the government forces against a Kurdish wedding party.
   In early October 2007, PKK fighters carried out another ambush, this time near the border with Iraq, killing 13 Turkish soldiers. The incident sparked renewed threats from the Turkish government to cross over into Iraq to pursue the fighters. On the 17th of October 2007, the Turkish parliament approved a military incursion into Iraq to pursue the PKK fighters. The vote for incursion won with an overwhelming 507 to 19. Action was delayed on request by the US government on the condition that "swift steps" were taken to deal with the militants.
   Just five days later on October 22nd, BBC reported another PKK ambush that left 12 more Turkish soldiers dead with an additional eight more missing. According to The Independent, the October 22nd attack happened when PKK militants blew up a bridge located just three miles (5 km) from the border with Iraq, when a 12-vehicle Turkish military convoy was crossing it. The attack left 17 Turkish soldiers dead and some were taken prisoners. Turkey reported that 32 militants were also killed in the raid .
   On December 16th, 2007, Turkish Armed Forces started the biggest attack to Kurdish camps at Northern Iraq. Turkish Air Force F16s and F4s using night vision systems destroyed main camp at Kandil with Zap, Avaşin and Hakurk camps.

Death threats by PKK concerning the Turkish General election in 2007

A death threat was mailed by PKK to CHP, MHP, DYP and AKP to withdraw their Van and Hakkari candidates allowing a DTP dominance.}}

2008 to date

On 22 February 2008, the Turkish military carried out a major incursion into northern Iraq to attack PKK bases there. An estimated 10,000 Turkish troops were deployed for the incursion along with armoured vehicles and aircraft. The incursion sparked calls from the Iraqi and US governments for the incursion to end.
On 29 February, the Turkish military announced that the incursion was finished and pulled out of northern Iraq, claiming that they'd achieved their objectives. The military claimed 240 PKK rebels killed and for the loss of 27 Turkish soldiers.

Allegations of international support to the PKK

According to The New Yorker magazine (Seymour Hersh), US government has been supporting PJAK, the Iranian branch of PKK. The head of the PKK militant arm, Murat Karayilan, in an interview with the Daily Telegraph claimed that Iran attempted to recruit the PKK to attack coalition forces. Karayilan said Kurdish guerrillas have launched a clandestine war in north-western Iran, ambushing Iranian troops.
General Yaşar Büyükanıt, who is the Chief of the Turkish General Staff, stated that even though the international struggle had been discussed on every platform and even though organizations such as the UN, NATO, EU make statements of serious commitment, to this day the necessary measures hadn't been taken. Dr. Sedat Laciner, director of the International Strategic Research Organization, said "The PKK is a terrorist organization. Americans and the EU say so. If the US ignores or supports the PKK in the region, the US’ fight against global terrorism will lose its base. Turkey’s support, as a moderate Muslim country, in fighting terrorism is crucial. However, if you support my terrorists, I can not help you in fighting against your terrorists." A former militant, who recently had turned himself in to the Turkish Police, claimed that the weapons for PKK in the north of Iraq were provided by US armoured vehicles. Austria arranged a flight to Iraq for Ali Rıza Altun, a suspected key figure in PKK ranks with an Interpol arrest warrant in his name, after harboring him for some time. Turkish foreign minister Abdullah Gül summoned the Austrian ambassador and condemned Austria's action.
A document by the Turkish General Staff published in July 2007 documented the weapons and their origin captured from the PKK operatives. Same report also indicates that the PKK operatives delete some of the serial numbers from their weapons as they've done before making a serial number search. The weapons PKK uses and their origins are:

4,500 AK-47 Kalashnikovs: 71.6% originating from the USSR, 14.7% from China, 3.6% from Hungary, and 3.6% from Bulgaria.
5,713 (Kannas, PKC automatic rifle, Dragunov Sniper Rifle, Arbiki, Heckler & Koch G3, M16 rifle, Heckler & Koch PSG1 (G-1), Mauser) of which only 959 had a complete traceable serial number: 45.2% from Russia, 13.2% from United Kingdom, and 9.4% from United States.
1,610 rocket launchers of which only 313 had a traceable serial number: 85% from Russia, 5.4% from Iraq, and 2.5% from China in origin.
2,885 pistols of which only 2,208 had a traceable serial number: 21.9% from Czechoslovakia, 20.2% from Spain, and 19.8% from Italy.
3,490 grenades of which 136 had a traceable serial number: 72% from Russia, 19.8% from United States, and 8% from Germany.
11,568 mines of which only 8,015 had a traceable serial number. 60.8% from Italy, 28.3% from Russia, and 6.2% from Germany.

Resources

The organization's annual budget has been estimated at $86 million USD.
   The PKK receives a proportion of its funding in the form of private donations, from both organisations and individuals from around the world. Some of these supporters are Kurdish businessmen in south-eastern Turkey, sympathisers in Syria and Iran, and Europe. Parties and concerts are organized by branch groups. Additionally, it's believed that the PKK earns money through the sale of various publications, as well as receiving revenues from legitimate businesses owned by the organization.
   At the height of its campaign, the PKK received support from other countries, most notably Syria, Iran, the Soviet Union and according to the Turkish government, Denmark allows Kurdish satellite television stations (such as ROJ-TV), which Turkey claims has links with the PKK, to operate in Denmark and broadcast into Turkey. MED TV broadcast for five years in UK, until its licence was revoked by the regulators Independent Television Commission (ITC) in 1999 due to a breach of ITC guidelines and perceived pro-PKK bias. When Med TV lost its licence in the UK, MEDYA TV started transmissions from studios in Belgium via a satellite uplink from France. MEDYA TV's licence was revoked by the French authorities. A few weeks later Roj TV began transmissions from Denmark. It has also been argued that the Netherlands and Belgium have supported the PKK by allowing its training camps to function in their respective territories. On November 22 1998, Hanover's criminal police reported that three children had been trained by the PKK for guerrilla warfare in camps in the Netherlands and Belgium. After the death of Theo van Gogh, with increasing attention on domestic security concerns, the Dutch police raided the 'PKK paramilitary camp' in the Dutch town of Liempde and arrested 29 people in November 2004.
   According to the former KGB-FSB officer Alexander Litvinenko, who was assassinated in 2006, PKK's leader Abdullah Ocalan was among the terrorists trained by KGB-FSB. As of 2008, Russia still isn't among the states that list PKK as a terrorist group.
   The PKK has developed links with paramilitary groups among other ethnic groups which has harboured historic grievances against Turkey such as the ethnic Armenian ASALA, as well as groups which shared its left-wing nationalist ideology such as the Palestine Liberation Organisation, ETA, and to a lesser degree the Provisional Irish Republican Army.

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