Kurdistan Workers Party

The PKK has fairly wide support among the Kurdish population in Turkey, and limited support in other parts of Kurdistan.^[3]^[4] It is listed as a terrorist organization internationally by a number of states and organizations, including the United States,^[1] NATO and the European Union.^[5] 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).^[6] Turkish sources have labelled the PKK as an ethnic secessionist organization that uses terrorism and the threat of force against both civilian^[5]^[7] and military targets for the purpose of achieving its political goal.

History

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.^[8]

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 form of organisation, 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.^[9]

In 1999, Turkish authorities captured Öcalan while he was being transferred by the Greek security system^[10] 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).^[11] The most recent execution in Turkey took place in 1984.^[12]

Turkey abolished the death penalty on 3 August 2002 (except in time of war at the first instance and entirely later on) as part of a raft of reforms aimed at preparing the country for European Union membership, and as a result the death sentence of Öcalan was commuted to life imprisonment.^[13]

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 2003.^[14] On April 2, 2004, the Council of the European Union added the PKK to its list of terrorist organisations. Later that year, 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.^[15]^[16]

Recent history

1999?2004

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 is 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.^[19]^[20] although Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdo?an and Chief of Staff, General Ya?ar Büyükan?t do not recognize such a motion. Erdo?an was quoted as saying; "A ceasefire is done between states. It is not something for a terrorist organization,"^[21]^[22] The Turkish army is calling for action against PKK training camps in northern Iraq.^[23]

Turkish newspaper Zaman reported:^[24] "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 Apar? 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.^[25]

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.^[26]

On the 17 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.^[27] 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, the BBC reported another PKK ambush that left 12 more Turkish soldiers dead with an additional eight more missing.^[28] According to The Independent, the 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.^[29]

On December 16th, 2007, Turkish Armed Forces started the biggest attack to Kurdish camps at Northern Iraq. Turkish Air Force F-16s and F4s using night vision systems destroyed main camp at Kandil with Zap, Ava?in 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.^[30]

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.^[31] The incursion sparked calls from the Iraqi and US governments for the incursion to end.

On 29 February, 2008 the Turkish military announced that the incursion was finished and pulled out of northern Iraq, claiming that they had achieved their objectives. The military claimed 240 PKK rebels killed and for the loss of 27 Turkish soldiers.^[32]

After a terrorist attack in Istanbul on 27 July 2008, Turkish authorities blamed the PKK. Spokesmen for the organization emphatically denied being involved.

Allegations of international support to the PKK

Seymour Hersh has claimed that the U.S. government has been supporting PEJAK, the Iranian branch of the PKK.^[34] In an interview with the Daily Telegraph, the head of the PKK's militant arm, Murat Karayilan, claimed that Iran attempted to recruit the PKK to attack coalition forces, adding that Kurdish guerrillas have launched a clandestine war in north-western Iran, ambushing Iranian troops.^[35] The Chief of the Turkish General Staff, General Ya?ar Büyükan?t 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 had not been taken.^[36] Büyükan?t continued:^[36]

Sedat Laciner, of the Turkish think tank ISRO, says that US support of the PKK undermines the US war on terrorism.^[37]

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.^[38]^[39]

Austria arranged a flight to Iraq for Ali R?za 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.^[40]

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 have done before making a serial number search. The weapons PKK uses and their origins are:^[41]

Resources

Financial resources

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.^[43] Additionally, it is believed that the PKK earns money through the sale of various publications, as well as receiving revenues from legitimate businesses owned by the organization.^[44] The Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) also has been financing its separatist movement by extorting narcotics traffickers and engaging in the trade themselves. The PKK is heavily involved in the European drug trade, especially in Germany and France.^[45] French law enforcement estimates that the PKK smuggles 80% of the heroin in Paris.^[46] The British Foreign Office has made a similar estimate for Britain.^[47]

Human resources

According to information provided by the Intelligence Resource Program of the Federation of American Scientiststhe strength of the organization in terms of human resources consists of approximately 4,000 to 5,000 militants of whom 3,000 to 3,500 are located in northern Iraq.^[48]

A study carried out by the Counter-Terrorism and Operations Department of Directorate General for Security over a sample of files about people convicted of being a terrorist under Turkish laws including 262 militants from the organization has found that 54% of the members are aged 14 to 25, 34% 26 to 37 and 12% 38 to 58. University graduates make up 11 % of the members, high school graduates 16 %, secondary school graduates 13 %, primary school graduates 39%, literate non-graduates 12% and illiterates 9%.^[49]

International support

At the height of its campaign, the PKK received support from other countries, most notably Syria,^[43]^[50]^[51] Iran,^[52] the Soviet Union^[53] 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.^[54] 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.^[55] 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.^[56]

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,^[58] 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.^[58] Through the large Kurdish immigration in Germany, it has also formed close contacts with violent left-wing political groups in that country. From early 1979 to 1999 Syria had provided valuable safe havens to PKK in the region of Beqaa Valley. During the 1990s, Greece^[59] and Iran provided PKK with supplies in the form of weapons and funds.

The Republic of Cyprus was in suspicion of aiding Abdullah Öcalan, the founder of PKK, after he was caught with a Cypriot passport to the name of Mavros Lazaros, a nationalist reporter. The reporter in question has been on record as acting as his own volition. After the undeclared war between Turkey and Syria, Syria placed restrictions on PKK activity on its soil. Turkey is expecting positive developments in its cooperation with Syria in the long term, but even during the course of 2005, there were PKK operatives of Syrian nationality operating in Turkey. Iran listed PKK as a terrorist organization after Iran's supply of resources to the PKK began to be used on its own soil.

On September 30 1995, Damascus opened new contacts with high ranking German CDU MP Heinrich Lummer and German intelligence officials. The PKK has strong ties with influential persons around the world. Danielle Mitterrand, the wife of the former President of France has active connections with elements of the PKK's leadership.^[60]

Activities

Activities of the Kurdistan Workers Party by Region^[61]^[17]
Target	Activity Category		Turkey	Northern Iraq	Western Europe
Government	Demonstrations/Protests^[61]		Yes	Yes	Yes
	Riots^[61]		Yes		Yes
	Kidnapping^[61]		Yes		Yes
	Assassination^[61]		Yes	Yes
	Sabotage^[61]		Yes
	Chemical warfare^[62]		Yes
	Bombing Attacks^[61]	Post/Train/Power	Yes
		Police	Yes
		Outposts	Yes
	Armed Attacks^[61]	Military	Yes	Yes
		Police	Yes
		Village Guards	Yes
Civilian	Kidnapping^[61]		Yes
	Assassination^[61]		Yes	Yes
	Bombing Attacks	Villages	Yes	Yes
		Touristic Facilities^[61]	Yes
		Commercial Units^[61]	Yes
Organized Crime	Extortion^[63]		Yes		Yes
	Drug Trafficking^[64]		Transit	Transit	Destination
	Human Trafficking^[64]		Origin	Origin

The PKK operates in Turkey, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia, under numerous front organizations.^[17]^[65] One pattern is apparent after 1984, PKK began to use Maoist theory of people's war.^[66]^[67] There are three phases in this theory. The militant base during the initial years was coming from different sources, so the first two phases were diffused to each other.

In the first phase (1978-1984), the PKK tried to gain the support of the population. It attacked the machinery of government and distributed propaganda in the region. PKK tactics were based on ambush, sabotage, riots, protests, and demonstrations against the Turkish government. PKK has also been accused of violent attacks on individual civilians or residential areas (Kurds and non-Kurds alike), who refused to co-operate with the PKK or were suspected of collaborating with the Turkish authorities. During these years, the PKK fought a turf war against other predominantly Kurdish organisations in Turkey. The PKK effectively used the prison force to gain appeal among the population.^[68]^[69] In the whole Turkey, this period was characterized by violent clashes which culminated in the 1980 military coup.

In the second phase (1984-1999), which followed the return of civilian rule in 1983, escalating attacks were made on the government's military and vital institutions all over the country. The objective was to destabilise Turkish authority through a long, low-intensity confrontation. In addition to skirmishing with Turkish military and police forces and local village guards, the PKK has conducted suicide bombing on government and police installations, as well as at local tourist sites. Kidnapping and assassination against government officials and Kurdish tribal leaders who were named as puppets of the state were performed as well. Widespread sabotages were continued from the first stage. PKK performed kidnapping western tourists, primarily in Istanbul but also at different resorts. PKK has also attacked Turkish diplomatic and commercial facilities across Western Europe.

In the third phase, or "guerrilla stage", conventional fighting was used to seize cities, overthrow the government and take control of the country. PKK seized cities during the highest activity period, and it also had consequences on the functioning of the Turkish parliament through Turkey's own election system, but there was no case during an active conflict that PKK manage to sustain its flag in a region within the borders of Turkey.

Militant activities

Since its creation in the 1970s, amid violent clashes in the whole of Turkey which culminated in the 1980 military coup, the PKK has developed into a paramilitary organization. The conflict between PKK and the Turkish state rendered much of southeastern Turkey a war zone in the late 1980s and 1990s. Its actions have taken place mainly in Turkey and against Turkish targets in other countries, although it has on occasions co-operated with other Kurdish nationalist paramilitary groups in neighboring states, such as Iraq and Iran.^[70] The PKK argued that its violent actions were justified by the need to defend Kurds in the context of what it considered as the massive cultural suppression of Kurdish identity (including the 1983 Turkish Language Act Ban) and cultural rights carried out by the governments of the region. In its campaign, the PKK has been accused of carrying out atrocities against both Turkish and Kurdish civilians and its actions have been criticised by human rights groups such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch. Actions of the Turkish state in the past have also been criticised by these same groups. In effect, the Turkish state has led a series of counter-insurgency operations against the PKK, accompanied by political measures, starting with an explicit denunciation of separatism in the 1982 Constitution, and including proclamation of the state of emergency in various PKK-controlled territories starting in 1983 (when the military relinquished political control to the civilians). This series of administrative reforms against terrorism included in 1985 the creation of village guard system by the then prime minister Turgut Özal who is of partial Kurdish descent. All in all, this low intensity conflict which has lasted more than thirty years has had a number of effects in the Turkish territory. Furthermore, this conflict is an important part concerning the negotiations between Turkey and the European Union (EU) about its eventual integration to the EU.

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, in an effort to win increased support from the Kurdish peasantry, the PKK altered its leftist secular ideology to better accommodate and accept Islamic beliefs. The group also abandoned its previous strategy of attacking Kurdish civilians, focusing instead on government and tourist targets.^[73]

Tactics

The areas in which the group operates are generally mountainous rural areas and dense urban areas. The mountainous terrain offers an advantage to members of the PKK by allowing them to hide in a network of caves and making military air operations, especially helicopter use, hazardous for the Turkish Armed Forces. While in urban areas, PKK members are often able to blend in with the local population.

The group has been planting mines.^[74] Use of these mines has led to civilian deaths, in part due to accidental triggering by civilian trucks and buses rather than the intended military armoured vehicles.^[74]

University of Ankara study

The PKK is known to use children within its militant force. U?ur Esentur of Ankara University has examined the motivations of some of these children for his doctoral research.^[75] Of those surveyed, 86% had joined the PKK to bolster their families incomes following offers that it would provide for their families in return.^[76] All of the children reported that these offers were not fulfilled.^[76] 80% of those surveyed also reported that they had actively stopped other family members?usually younger brothers?from joining the organization too.^[76] The study also reported that 60% of those surveyed had an education level below high school level.^[76]

When asked why they stayed in the PKK rather than turning themselves in to the authorities, two thirds stated that they were afraid of being caught by the PKK as reprisals are not just limited to physical harm towards the militant; their families would be at risk as well.^[76] Five percent said that it was from fear of punishment by the Turkish Republic.^[76] The study also examined attitudes toward gender equality within the organization. 88% of the subjects reported that, despite its Marxist ideology and claims that equality is a key objective, there was no equality within the organization.^[76]

Effects

As a self-styled revolutionary left-wing organization, the PKK has cited "mass violence by the Turkish state on the Kurd identity" to justify its activities. The main goal of its activities was to alienate the people from the state by pushing security forces into more and more overt and repressive counter-measures. The Political-Justice section extends the results of this ideology and methods of the democratic processes and the justice system in Turkey. In a democratic system, an ideology that questions the state's legitimacy, will of its population and its security apparatus was difficult to be accepted as a political view, which was shaped under HEP/DEP/HADEP story. Turkish government authorities did not negotiate with the organization, so regional NGOs there were no communication channels between the sides. The ill-formed language ban of 1983 and Terrorism Act of 1991 were significant events. Also, amnesties were interesting events during the conflict time, as each amnesty gave more human resources to the organization. The prison as a rehabilitation concept was a failure. The people who were jailed for non-violent activities were becoming militants during their jail time. Government's military operations against the prisons were the highest point in this failure.

As a revolutionary left-wing organization, the PKK perceived Turkish society as one that was deformed by capitalism and imperialism. The PKK unleashed its aggression on enemies spanning all classes (farmers, business, etc.) and those that it considered puppets of the state. The cost of the PKK's actions are significant. PKK had drastic effects on regional economy, as targeted infrastructure of the region. Regions' inability to join the economical activities were associated with the work force, costs (insurance premiums, facility costs, loss of trained personnel etc.), and productivity (loss of work time, travel restrictions, inability to move rapidly etc). The region has had a very high historical tourism potential and it has been dormant because of the terrorism threat for many years.

The integration into social and economical activities are developed within the education system. Educational activities were targeted by the PKK. Because the majority of the people are very resilient to the effects of political violence, young people form a high risk group because of their undeveloped personalities. The effects of political violence on the newer generations is an important issue because, at the moment, the new generation in areas affected by the conflict have no experience living under what would be considered normal conditions.

According to a July 1998 article in Le Monde diplomatique, the conflict has weighed heavily on the Turkish state's budget.^[77] In 1993, a sum of $70m was allocated from the prime minister?s secret funds. According to government inspector Kutlu Sava?, this sum was used mainly for procuring weapons and anti-terrorist equipment from Israel and for external operations. Irregular units in the conflictual zones have had to find ways to finance themselves, including racketeering and secret funding. Sedat Bucak has been alleged by the French newspaper to have under his orders 20,000 men, while the village guards pro-government Kurdish militias created in the mid-1980s would number to a total of 64,000.^[77]

Toll

More than 37,000 people have died since the beginning of the PKK's armed struggle in 1984.^[78] According to Denise Natali, the Turkish Armed Forces have destroyed some 8000 Kurdish communities and created 3 to 4 million refugees in the process.^[79]

According to official figures released by the Turkish military for the 1984-2008 period:^[80]