Kurdistan Workers Party

The Kurdistan Workers Party (Kurdish: Partiya Karkerên Kurdistan or PKK), also known as KADEK and Kontra-Gel, is an armed organization dedicated to creating an independent Kurdish state in a territory (sometimes referenced as Kurdistan) that consists of parts of southeastern Turkey, northeastern Iraq, northeastern Syria and northwestern Iran. Its current ideological foundation is revolutionary Marxism-Leninism and Kurdish nationalism. It is an ethnic secessionism organization using force and threat of force against both civilian and military targets for the purpose of achieving its political goal. The PKK is defined as a terrorist organisation by the European Union, the United States, and several other countries (list of states). Its actions have mainly taken place in Turkey and against Turkish targets in other countries, although it has on occasions co-operated with other Kurdish nationalist paramilitary groups in neighbouring states, such as Iraq and Iran.

Related Topics:
Kurdish - Kurdistan - Turkey - Iraq - Syria - Iran - Marxism-Leninism - Kurdish - Nationalism - Ethnic - Secessionism - Terrorist organisation - European Union - United States - List of states

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The PKK emerged as an organization during the 1970s and developed into a formidable paramilitary organisation which rendered much of southeastern Turkey a war zone in the late 1980s and 1990s. The war between the PKK and the Turkish army was marked by well substantiated allegations of brutality on both sides and resulted in approximately 30,000 deaths. The PKK argued that its violence was justified by the need to defend Kurds in the context of what it saw as massive cultural suppression of Kurdish identity and cultural rights carried out by governments in the region. However, in its campaign, the PKK has been accused of atrocities against both Turkish and Kurdish civilians. Its actions have been criticized by human rights groups such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.

Related Topics:
1970s - 1980s - 1990s - Human rights - Amnesty International - Human Rights Watch

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In the late 1990s, the Turkish army began to gain the upper hand in the ground war with the PKK and post-Cold War changes in international politics resulted in the group losing much of its support from other states. In addition, the Turkish state began a slow process of dismantling the legal repression of Kurdish culture within Turkey. The ban on Kurdish language (1983) was dropped in 1991, with more thoroughgoing reforms adopted in the 2000s. The degree of support for the PKK among Turkish Kurds is disputed. In some of the strongholds of Kurdish nationalism in the Tigris valley and mountainous regions on the Iranian border, PKK-linked parties have consistently polled a majority of votes cast in elections. However, PKK-linked parties have polled at most approximately one-third of the Kurdish vote, with the majority of Kurds voting for mainstream parties. In some of the more integrated Kurdish areas, claimed by the PKK as part of 'Kurdistan', support for PKK-linked parties lies in the 1-2% range.

Related Topics:
1990s - Cold War - 1983 - 1991 - 2000s - Tigris - Integrated

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

As of 2005, the PKK's return to violence has been with much less ferocity than its pre-1999 campaign, and the Turkish military, in contrast to the aggressive tactics of the 1980s and 1990s, have largely pursued a policy of maintaining normality in southeastern Turkey. The movement seems to have lost considerable support among Kurds, with a significant number of Democratic People's Party politicians and prominent formerly pro-PKK personalities denouncing the return to violence.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~