Kurdistan Workers' Party insurgency

Kurdistan Workers' Party insurgency
Part of the Kurdish–Turkish conflict

Overview of the PKK–Turkish conflict (2010)
Datec. 27 November 1978 – present
(45 years, 11 months and 2 weeks)
Location
Eastern and Southeastern Turkey, spillovers in Northern Iraq, Northern Syria and Northwestern Iran
Status

Ongoing:

Belligerents

Turkey Turkey

Other forces:

Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK)

HBDH

International Freedom Battalion

TAK
Commanders and leaders

Current commanders
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
Ali Yerlikaya
Yaşar Güler
Metin Gürak

Past commanders:

Current commanders
Murat Karayılan
Mustafa Karasu
Duran Kalkan
Bahoz Erdal
Cemil Bayık

Past commanders:
Strength
Turkish Armed Forces: 639,551 (2016):[26]
Gendarmerie: 148,700 (2009)[27]
Police: 225,000
Village Guards: 65,000 (2010)[28]
Total Force: 1,000,000+

YPG: 60,000–75,000[29]
PKK: 32,800[30][31]
PJAK: 1,000[32]–3,000[33]
TAK: A few dozen[34]
Currently: 116,000+

Total Served: 250,000+
Casualties and losses
Before 2015:
6,764 killed (per Turkey)[35]
2015–present:
1,488 killed (per Crisis Group)[36]		 Before 2015:
26,774 killed, 922 injured, 6,727 captured, 4,781 surrendered (per Turkey)[35]
2015–present:
4,695 killed (per Crisis Group)
40,000+ killed, captured, or surrendered (per Turkey)[a][36]
Civilian casualties:
5,478 killed (1984–2013, per Turkey)[35]
631 killed since 2015 (per Crisis Group)[36]
2,400–4,000 villages destroyed[37][38]
Turkish Hezbollah also known as Kurdish Hezbollah or just Hizbullah in Turkey, is a mainly Sunni Islamist militant organization, active against the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and the Government of Turkey.[39][40][41][42][43]
^ a: Casualty estimates from the Turkish government after 2015 include those from the Syrian civil war. Turkish figures for casualties have been called into question.[44]

The Kurdistan Workers' Party insurgency[note 2] is an armed conflict between the Republic of Turkey and the Kurdistan Workers' Party, as well as its allied insurgent groups, both Kurdish and non-Kurdish,[67] who have either demanded separation from Turkey to create an independent Kurdistan,[34] or attempted to secure autonomy,[68] and/or greater political and cultural rights for Kurds inside the Republic of Turkey.[69]

The main rebel group is the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK)[70] (Kurdish: Partiya Karkerên Kurdistanê). Although the Kurdish-Turkish conflict has spread to many regions,[71] most of the conflict has taken place in Northern Kurdistan, which corresponds with southeastern Turkey.[72] The PKK's presence in Iraqi Kurdistan has resulted in the Turkish Armed Forces carrying out frequent ground incursions and air and artillery strikes in the region,[73][74][75] and its influence in Syrian Kurdistan has led to similar activity there. The conflict has cost the economy of Turkey an estimated $300 to 450 billion, mostly in military costs. It has also affected tourism in Turkey.[76][77][78]

A revolutionary group, the PKK was founded in 1978 in the village of Fis, Lice by a group of Kurdish students led by Abdullah Öcalan.[79] The initial reason given by the PKK for this was the oppression of Kurds in Turkey.[80][81] At the time, the use of Kurdish language, dress, folklore, and names were banned in Kurdish-inhabited areas.[82] In an attempt to deny their existence, the Turkish government categorized Kurds as "Mountain Turks" during the 1930s and 1940s.[82][83][84] The words "Kurds", "Kurdistan", or "Kurdish" were officially banned by the Turkish government.[85] Following the military coup of 1980, the Kurdish language was officially prohibited in public and private life until 1991.[86] Many who spoke, published, or sang in Kurdish were arrested and imprisoned.[87]

The PKK was formed in an effort to establish linguistic, cultural, and political rights for Turkey's Kurdish minority.[88] However, the full-scale insurgency did not begin until 15 August 1984, when the PKK announced a Kurdish uprising. Since the conflict began, more than 40,000 have died, the vast majority of whom were Kurdish civilians.[89] Both sides were accused of numerous human rights abuses during the conflict. The European Court of Human Rights has condemned Turkey for thousands of human rights abuses.[90][91] Many judgments are related to the systematic executions of Kurdish civilians,[92] torture,[93] forced displacements,[94] destroyed villages,[95][96][97] arbitrary arrests,[98] and the forced disappearance or murder of Kurdish journalists, activists and politicians.[99][100][101] Teachers who provided and students who demanded education in Kurdish language were prosecuted and sentenced for supporting terrorism of the PKK.[102] On the other hand, the PKK has faced international condemnation, mainly by Turkish allies, for using terrorist tactics, which include civilian massacres, summary executions, suicide bombers, and child soldiers, and involvement in drug trafficking.[103][104] The organization is historically to blame for the burning of schools and killing of teachers who they accused of "destroying Kurdish identity", attacks on hospitals which resulted in the death of doctors and nurses, and allegedly the kidnapping of foreign tourists for ransom.[citation needed][105][106]

In February 1999, PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan was arrested in Nairobi, Kenya by a group of special forces personnel[107] and taken to Turkey, where he remains in prison on an island in the Sea of Marmara.[108] The first insurgency lasted until March 1993, when the PKK declared a unilateral ceasefire.[109] Fighting resumed the same year.[110] In 2013, the Turkish government started talks with Öcalan. Following mainly secret negotiations, a largely successful ceasefire was put in place by both the Turkish state and the PKK. On 21 March 2013, Öcalan announced the "end of armed struggle" and a ceasefire with peace talks.[20]

The conflict resumed following the Ceylanpınar incidents, in which the PKK killed two Turkish policemen in the Suruç bombing.[111][112] With the resumption of violence, hundreds of Kurdish civilians have been killed by both sides and numerous human rights violations have occurred, including torture and widespread destruction of property.[113][114] Substantial parts of many Kurdish-majority cities including Diyarbakır, Şırnak, Mardin, Cizre, Nusaybin, and Yüksekova were destroyed in the clashes.[115]

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