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File:Pkk.gif
Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) Flag
File:Kadek flag.jpg
Congress for Freedom and Democracy in Kurdistan (KADEK) Flag
File:Kongra-gel flag.jpg
Kongra-gel Flag

The Kurdistan Workers Party (Kurdish: Partiya Karkerên Kurdistan or PKK), is one of several organisations striving for the rights of the kurdish people in Turkey. Its main objective is the creation of an independent Kurdish state in Kurdistan, a territory that is currently southeastern Turkey, northeastern Iraq, northeastern Syria and northwestern Iran. It arose from a radical youth movement in Turkey and was founded in 1973 by Abdullah Öcalan. Operated informally until 1978 when it proclaimed itself a revolutionary communist movement following a Marxist-Leninist doctrine, though since then it has abandoned much of its leftist doctrine. In 2002, the party renamed itself to KADEK, and then in 2004 to Kongra-Gel. Finally in 2005 the party reverted back to its original name, PKK. In its campaign for Kurdish independence, the organisation has been accused of atrocities against both Turkish and Kurdish civilians. However, the Turkish Government has also been accused of widespread atrocities in its campaign to suppress the organisation, and has continued to repress efforts by the Kurdish people in Turkey to secure regional autonomy or independence.

Activities

PKK's targets consist of...

  • Turkish military and police forces
  • Turkish sites at home and abroad
  • * Kurdish civilians who would not cooperate with the group or were alleged of collaborating with the Turkish military
  • non-Kurdish civilians
  • Suicide bombs targeting local governors and police installations, and raiding villages and small towns are also among the activities.
  • Bombing tourist sites as well as kidnapping Western tourists, who were subsequently released, primarily in Istanbul and at Turkish seaside resorts in an effort to gain publicity and hamper the Turkish tourisim industry.
  • Village guards loyal to the Turkish government.
  • Protests, both peaceful and riot like
  • Timered/remote/suicide bombings of public places such as malls, hotels, bazaars, as well as governmental buildings like police stations, hospitals, etc....
  • Conducting attacks on Turkish diplomatic and commercial facilities in dozens of West European cities in 1993 and again in spring 1995.

The Turkish government responded to these actions, by using a more drastic and direct approach against the PKK. 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. The damage to infrastructure and the money spent to end the conflict is claimed by the Turkish government to stand at 200 billion ($200,000,000,000) US dollars. Analysts point out that, if such figures are accurate, this sum would be more than enough to complete the GAP Project which had limited progress since the start of the conflict. The conflict left a war-torn region and prompted some hostility towards the Kurds in the region as well as abroad.

One of the reasons Turkey was denied European Union membership was this conflict.

Resource Gathering

PKK supporters demonstrating in London (April 2003)
File:Frankfurd PKK protests after the capture of PKK leader.jpg
PKK supporters demonstrating after the capture of Abdullah Öcalan in Frankfurt, Germany (16 February 1999)
File:Hamburg PKK protests after the capture of PKK leader.jpg
PKK supporters demonstrating after the capture of Abdullah Öcalan in Hamburg, Germany (16 February 1999)
File:Ottawa PKK protests after the capture of PKK leader1.jpg
PKK Supporters demonstrating in Ottawa, Canada by burning a US flag after the capture of Abdullah Öcalan (17 February 1999)
File:Ottawa PKK protests after the capture of PKK leader2.jpg
PKK Supporters demonstrating in Ottawa, Canada by burning a Greek flag after the capture of Abdullah Öcalan (17 February 1999)

Fund raising consisted of a very important portion of the organisation. The organisation raised funds via...

  • Revenues obtained from the special nights organized by branch organizations in Europe.
  • Aid campaigns periodically organized by the party.
  • Grants and subscriptions.
  • Sales of publications.
  • Revenues obtained from commercial establishments belonging to the organization.
  • Money stolen through robbery or raids.
  • Smuggling of illegal workers and immigrants (costing on average $5,000 per person). The route of illegal imigrant traffic passes through Turkey to Greece then to Europe and the United States.
  • Money collected through drug trafficking and arms-smuggling.
  • Extortion. In common with many terrorist organizations, the PKK routinely extorts money from people who start new businesses, and benefits from bids on government contracts. In order to finance the purchase of more sophisticated weaponry such as the German design SA FIM-92 Stinger missles, of which a number were discovered in mountain depots raided by the security forces in the spring of 1994, the PKK has begun to "tax" rich businessmen of Kurdish origin nationwide. Other professions such as doctors, contractors, builders, farmers, and teachers reportedly are not immune to extortion either. Although the largest portion of PKK's income is derived from drug smuggling, its annual budget is estimated to be $86 million USD. This includes income from extortion in both Turkey and abroad, especially from Kurdish and Turkish workers, most of who reside in Germany. The British National Service of Criminal Intelligence - NSIC) reported that in 1993 PKK extorted 2.5 million pounds sterling from immigrants and businesses. According to the same source, PKK obtained 28 million USD from drug smuggling in Europe in 1993. In addition, only those businessmen of whom PKK approves entered bids for government contracts in the southeast, in return for a "commission" to the organization. Likewise, temporary workers in the southeast who were paid a monthly net salary of $1,000 USD were forced to give up $700 USD of this sum to the PKK.
  • Aid received through intimidation from constructors and merchants running business in the region.
  • Transfer of money to the organization from the people entitled to payments in European countries, under refugee status
  • Received safehaven and modest aid from Syria, Iraq, and Iran.

Tactics

The group in operate in high and mountanous rural as well as dense urban areas. The structure and height of this mountainous region in south eastern Turkey makes it very difficult for helicopters and other aircraft to maneuver, making it difficult for government troops to respond in a timely fashion to any ambush. While escaping/evading goverment troops members of the PKK often hide in underground safehouses or caves. Although nothing remotely close to Vietcong tunnel networks nor vegetation cover, the mountains and snow made them virtually invisible, especially during winter. Their tactics consists of...

  • Until 1990s PKK to gain support attacked Kurdish civilians who would not cooperate with the group on a regulary basis. Doing so the were either punishing the non-supporters and intimidate who was left to support the organisation or by blaming the deaths to the Turkish Military as a part of its propaganda campaign. Some 3,223 schools, attended by 166,000 students in 22 districts of two provinces, remained shut in 1996, and 156 teachers have been killed so far. According to June 1995 findings of the State Ministry for Human Rights Affairs, 809 villages and 1,612 hamlets have been evacuated in 19 provinces. Whereas, the State of Emergency Region Governorate announced that 753 villages and 1,535 hamlets were completely evacuated, and 235 villages and 141 hamlets partially evacuated. This activity prompted the government to evacuate some remote villages by force if the villagers did not want to leave their homes. After leaving their homes, the villages were often burned and livestock machine-gunned by the Army to create free-fire zones and to deprive the guerillas of resources, this is sometimes called draining the water in counter-insurgency. The evacuation have caused significant problems in the cities where the evacuees resettled (mostly larger metropolitan cities). The infrastructure had more people than it can handle.
  • Also just like the Vietcong, the organisation members often hid themselves in these villages while escaping a pursuit from government troops by "blending in" with the population.
  • Planted Russian and Itallian made Anti-personnel mines.
  • Planted Russian made Anti-vehicle mines were layed against patroling Turkish Gendarmerie vehicles, however frequently civilian trucks and busses triggered these mines as they are heavy enough. Generally the gendarmerie patroled with Armored vehicles which were either too light to trigger the mine or were armored well enough for the crew to survive the blast while vehicle was rendered useless aside from non-armored yet heavy vehicles such as suply trucks.
  • Sabotaging the GAP Project. On occasions engineers working on the project were abducted, foreigners were generaly released however.
  • Abducting/killing doctors, teachers, and other non-military government employees which progress the society as a way to destabilise the region.
  • Bombing tourist sites and hotels and kidnapping foreign tourists damaging Turkey's tourisim industry.


History

  • In 1973 the Kurdistan Workers Party, PKK, was established by Abdullah Öcalan, later formalised its doctrine in 1978.
  • In early 1980s consolidated resources and powerbase, prior to the military coup in Turkey, the PKK fled Turkey and established training camps in the Bekaa valley, part of ex-Syrian-controlled Lebanon.
  • In 1984 the organisation started its armed activities directed towards the Turkish military and Governmental institutes as well as civilian targets throughout Turkey
  • From early 1984 to 2 April 2002, the organisation operated under the banner of PKK (Kurdistan Workers Party).
  • From 1986 to 1987, Turkish Air Force raided PKK camps in northern Iraq in with the approval of the Iraqi government.
  • In 1990s the organisation ammended/abandoned its communist secular ideology to better accommodate and accept Islamic beliefs and also abandoned its previous strategy of attacking Kurdish civilians, focusing instead on governmental and touristic targets. The organisation's all-time high of activity was during the Gulf War when Turkey opened its Iraqi border allowing Iraqis and PKK members to flee the Saddam regime. The president of the era, Turgut Özal, is heavily criticised for his decision on this matter.
  • Two major operations were launched one at the end of 1992 and other in March 1995, were launched against the PKK, Some 1,912 PKK members died and 132 were captured alive during the ground actions of the Steel Operation carried out by the Turkish Army in northern Iraq in May 1997. Some 965 PKK members died during the air raids. A total of 113 Turkish officers and soldiers were killed and 325 injured during this operation.
  • Beginning in 1993, PKK members launched attacks from Iranian soil.
  • Later in 1993, the PKK launched coordinated attacks involving firebombs and vandalism on Turkish diplomatic and commercial offices in six West European countries.
  • In 1994, the political party closely affiliated with the PKK, Democracy Party, was banned to operate as a political institution. Some members, most prominently Leyla Zana, were arrested and charged with treason and membership in the PKK and were released in 2004.
  • Early 1990s president Hafez Assad to cooperate on the management of water flow from the GAP project, despite a number of protocols signed for that purpose. Reports indicate chose to force Turkey into releasing more water by increasing his support for PKK.
  • At the end of 1996, in PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan signed a protocol of cooperation with the Revolutionary People's Liberation Party-Front (DHKP-C).
  • Over the year 1997, the Turkish Army put out of action 3,302 PKK operatives, among which 484 captured, 415 surrendered, and 303 arrested, in various operations including those in northern Iraq. During the same period, security forces lost 192 soldiers and 95 others were wounded; in addition, 49 village guards were killed and 14 wounded.
File:Ocalancoming.jpg
Abdullah Öcalan escorted to Turkey by at least two intelligence agents.
File:Ocalan right after capture.jpg
Abdullah Öcalan right after capture.
File:Cypruspassportofocalan.jpg
Cyprus passport Abdullah Öcalan was captured with.


Abdullah Öcalan

Main article: Abdullah Öcalan

Abdullah Öcalan (b. 1948) is the leader of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and was captured in Kenya in early 1999 in a joint operation between the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), Turkish National Intelligence Agency (MIT), and Israeli Institute for Intelligence and Special Tasks agency (Mossad).

See Also

Sources

  • Section based on material published by the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs unless specified otherwise.
  • Section based on the article by Nur Bilge Criss, 'The Nature of PKK Terrorism in Turkey', Studies in Conflict and Terrorism 8 (1995) pp. 17-37

External links

Websites that describe PKK as a terrorist organisation

Govermental:

Non-Govermental:


Websites that describe PKK as freedom fighters

Categories: