View source for Kurdistan Workers' Party

{{Short description|Kurdish militant political organization}}
{{pp-semi-indef|small=yes}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2025}}
{{Infobox war faction
| name             = Kurdistan Workers' Party
| logo             = Flag of Kurdistan Workers' Party.svg
| caption          = Flag (2005–present)
| native_name      = {{Native name|ku-Latn|Partiya Karkerên Kurdistanê}}
| native_name_lang = ku-Latn
| leaders          = {{Collapsible list
|framestyle=border:none; padding:0; <!--as above-->
|title=Major leaders:
|1= '''[[Abdullah Öcalan]]'''{{POW}}
|2= [[Murat Karayılan]]
|3= [[Cemîl Bayik]]
|4= [[Duran Kalkan]]
|5= [[Şemdin Sakık]]{{POW}} 
|6= [[Nizamettin Taş]]
|7= [[Mahsum Korkmaz]]{{KIA}}
|8= [[Besê Hozat]]
|9= [[Bahoz Erdal]]
|10= [[Ali Haydar Kaytan]]{{KIA}} 
|11= [[Haki Karer]]{{KIA}}
|12= [[Mazlum Doğan]]{{POW}}
|13= [[Osman Öcalan]] [[Manner of death#Natural causes of death|#]]
|14= [[Celal Başkale]]{{KIA}}
|15= [[Nuriye Kesbir]]
|16= [[Mustafa Karasu]]
|17= [[Kani Yilmaz]]{{KIA}}
|18= [[Kemal Pir]]{{POW}}
}}
| foundation       = 27 November 1978
| dates            = 1978–2025
| dissolved        = To be determined<ref group="n" name="dissolution">Despite the PKK's 12th Congress announcing plans for total organisational dissolution, the PKK has not yet been dissolved [[de facto]] or [[de jure]].</ref>
| allegiance       = {{ubl|{{flagicon image|Flag of Koma Civakên Kurdistanê.svg}} [[Kurdistan Communities Union]] (2005–present)|{{flagicon image|Infobox HBDH.png}} [[Peoples' United Revolutionary Movement]] (2016–2025)}}
| clans            = {{ubl|{{flagicon image|Flag of Hêzên Parastina Gel.svg|border=}} [[People's Defence Forces]] (2000–2025)|{{flagicon image|Flag of YJA-Star.svg|border=}} [[Free Women's Units]] (2004–2025)|{{flagicon image|Flag of the YPS - Horizontal.svg|border=}} [[Civil Protection Units|Civil Defense Units]] (2015–2025)|[[Patriotic Revolutionary Youth Movement]] (2006–2015)}}
| headquarters     = [[Qandil Mountains]], [[Kurdistan Region]], Iraq
| ideology         = {{Plainlist|class=nowrap|
* [[Kurdish nationalism]] (disputed)<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Kurdistan-Workers-Party|title=Kurdistan Workers' Party|work=Encyclopaedia Britannica|quote=Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) ... militant Kurdish nationalist organization ...|access-date=7 September 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bka.de/SharedDocs/Downloads/DE/Publikationen/Publikationsreihen/PolizeiUndForschung/1_54_HandbuchExtremismuspraevention.html|title=Handbuch Extremismusprävention|work=[[Federal Criminal Police Office (Germany)|Federal Criminal Office]]|pages=159|quote=... der inzwischen stärker durch kurdischen Nationalismus geprägten PKK. |language=de |trans-quote=... the PKK, which is now more strongly influenced by Kurdish nationalism.|date=10 July 2020|access-date=7 September 2020|archive-date=3 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201003024913/https://www.bka.de/SharedDocs/Downloads/DE/Publikationen/Publikationsreihen/PolizeiUndForschung/1_54_HandbuchExtremismuspraevention.html|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK)|url=https://www.counterextremism.com/threat/kurdistan-workers-party-pkk|access-date=2021-05-15|website=[[Counter Extremism Project]]|language=en|quote=In 2003, Öcalan reformulated the ideological basis of the PKK. Inspired by eco-anarchists Murray Bookchin and Janet Beihl, he advocated for a new anti-nationalist approach he referred to as 'democratic confederalism.'}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=O'Connor|first=Francis|date=1 Jan 2017|title=The Kurdish Movement in Turkey: Between Political Differentiation and Violent Confrontation|url=https://www.hsfk.de/en/publications/publication-search/publication/the-kurdish-movement-in-turkey|journal=Peace Research Institute Frankfurt|pages=16–17|quote=The PKK has explicitly renounced its demand for an independent state... [Öcalan] describes [his theory] as 'an anti-Nationalist movement [...]'|archive-date=9 January 2023|access-date=15 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230109195540/https://www.hsfk.de/en/publications/publication-search/publication/the-kurdish-movement-in-turkey|url-status=dead}}</ref> 
* [[Democratic confederalism]]<ref name=newold/><ref>{{cite web | url=https://merip.org/1994/07/mad-dreams-of-independence/ | title=Mad Dreams of Independence | date=15 July 1994 }}</ref>
* [[Libertarian socialism]]<ref name=newold>{{cite web|last1=de Jong|first1=Alex|title=The New-Old PKK |url=https://www.jacobinmag.com/2016/03/pkk-ocalan-kurdistan-isis-murray-bookchin/|publisher=Jacobin Magazine|access-date=6 February 2019|date=18 Mar 2016}}</ref>
* [[Progressivism]]<ref>{{cite journal | url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.13169/zanjglobsoutstud.2.1.0115 | jstor=10.13169/zanjglobsoutstud.2.1.0115 | doi=10.13169/zanjglobsoutstud.2.1.0115 | title=The Rise of Feminism in the PKK: Ideology or Strategy? | date=2018 | last1=Novellis | first1=Andrea | journal=Zanj: The Journal of Critical Global South Studies | volume=2 | issue=1 | pages=115–133 | hdl=2434/817740 | hdl-access=free }}</ref>
* [[Anti-capitalism]]
* [[Murray Bookchin#Municipalism and communalism|Communalism]]
* [[Jineology]]
}}'''Historical''':{{plainlist|class=nowrap|
* [[Marxism–Leninism]]
* [[Maoism]]
* [[Stalinism]]<ref>{{cite news |first=Andrea |last=Glioti |url=http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2016/08/rojava-libertarian-myth-scrutiny-160804083743648.html |title=Rojava: A libertarian myth under scrutiny |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160819212842/http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2016/08/rojava-libertarian-myth-scrutiny-160804083743648.html |archive-date=19 August 2016 |work=Al Jazeera |date=6 August 2016}}</ref>
}}
| position         = {{nowrap|{{plainlist|
* [[Left-wing politics|Left-wing]] to [[far-left]]
}}}}
| status           = 
| size             = 5,000 (estimate){{refn|group=note|Estimates range from 4,000 to 7,000 members.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Wali|first=Zhelwan Z.|title=Kurd vs Kurd: Fears of full-scale war rise in northern Iraq|url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/12/2/kurd-vs-kurd-fears-of-full-scale-war-rise-in-northern-iraq|access-date=19 April 2021|website=[[Al Jazeera Arabic|Al Jazeera]]|language=en|quote=The PKK has an estimated 5,000 fighters stationed largely in Iraqi Kurdish region's rugged mountainous areas}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Country Reports on Terrorism 2019|url=https://www.state.gov/reports/country-reports-on-terrorism-2019/#PKK|access-date=19 April 2021|website=[[United States Department of State]]|language=en-US|quote=The PKK is estimated to consist of 4,000 to 5,000 members}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Terrorism Profile – Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK)|url=https://mackenzieinstitute.com/terrorism-profile-kurdistan-workers-party-pkk/|access-date=19 April 2021|website=[[Mackenzie Institute|The Mackenzie Institute]]|language=en-CA|quote=The exact number of fighters in the PKK is unknown, however, it is widely believed to be approximately 7000}}</ref>}}
| revenue          = 
| financing        = 
| partof           = 
| allies           = <!--Note: This list refers to current conditions not historical cases, which should be discussed within the article.-->
{{Collapsible list |title={{Nbsp}} | {{Plainlist}}
* '''Non-state allies''':
* {{flagicon image|Flag_of_Syrian_Democratic_Forces.svg}} [[Syrian Democratic Forces]]
* {{flagicon image|Flag of PJAK.svg}} [[Kurdistan Free Life Party]]
* {{flagicon image|Flag of YBŞ.svg|border=}} [[Sinjar Resistance Units]]
* {{flagicon image|Flag of Sinjar Womens Units.svg|border=}} [[Êzîdxan Women's Units]]
* [[Bethnahrin National Council]]<ref>{{cite news|url=https://jamestown.org/program/assyrian-nationalists-cooperate-with-kurdish-pkk-insurgents/|title=Assyrian Nationalists Cooperate with Kurdish PKK Insurgents|website=[[Jamestown Foundation]]|access-date=3 October 2021}}</ref>
* {{flagicon image|Flag of the International Freedom Battalion.svg}} [[International Freedom Battalion]]
* {{flagicon image|Birleşik Özgürlük Güçleri (United Freedom Forces) flag.svg}} [[United Freedom Forces]]
* {{flagicon image|MLKP Banner.svg}} [[Marxist–Leninist Communist Party (Turkey)]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://anfenglish.com/news/mlkp-salutes-the-pkk-on-the-anniversary-of-15-august-54180|title=MLKP salutes the PKK on the anniversary of 15 August|website=[[Firat News Agency]]|access-date=28 October 2021}}</ref>
* {{flagicon image|Flag of TiKKO.svg}} [[Communist Party of Turkey/Marxist–Leninist]]
* {{flagicon image|Flag of PUK.png}} [[Patriotic Union of Kurdistan]]
* {{flagicon image|Komalên Ciwan Flag.png}} [[Komalên Ciwan]]<ref>{{Cite web |year=2007 |title=Verfassungsschutzbericht 2007 |url=https://www.verfassungsschutz.de/download/SHOW/vsbericht_2007.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080920151144/http://www.verfassungsschutz.de/download/SHOW/vsbericht_2007.pdf |archive-date=20 September 2008 |access-date=26 August 2024 |website=[[Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution]] |issn=0177-0357}}</ref>
* {{flag|Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine}}<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://merip.org/2020/08/the-kurdish-movements-relationship-with-the-palestinian-struggle/|title=The Kurdish Movement’s Relationship with the Palestinian Struggle|author=Genc, Elif |date=Summer 2020 |issue=295 |website=Middle East Research and Information Project}}</ref>
{{endplainlist}}
}}
| opponents        = <!--Note: This list refers to current conditions not historical cases, which should be discussed within the article.-->
{{Collapsible list |title={{Nbsp}} | {{Plainlist}}
* '''State opponents''':
* {{flag|Turkey}}
* {{flag|Iraq}}
* {{flag|Iran}}
* {{flag|Ba'athist Syria}} (sometimes)
* {{flag|European Union}}
* {{flag|NATO}}
* {{flag|Israel}} (1982–1992)
* '''Non-state opponents''':
* {{flagicon image|Islamic State flag.svg}} [[Islamic State]]
* {{flagicon image|Flag of the KDP.svg}} [[Kurdistan Democratic Party]]
* {{flagicon image|Flag of Syria (2025-).svg}} [[Syrian National Army]]
* {{flagicon image|Kurdish Hezbollah Flag Red.png}} [[Kurdish Hezbollah]]
* {{flagicon image|Grey Wolves Gokturk Flag.svg}} [[Grey Wolves (organization)|Grey Wolves]]
* {{flagicon image|Flag of Jihad.svg}} [[al-Qaeda]]
{{endplainlist}}
}}
| battles          = {{ubl|{{tree list}}
*'''[[Kurdish–Turkish conflict]]'''
** [[Kurdistan Workers' Party insurgency]]
** [[Kurdish Hezbollah insurgency]]
*''' [[Israel–PKK relations#Military clashes|Israel–PKK conflict]]'''
** [[Lebanese Civil War]]
*** [[1982 Lebanon War]]
*'''[[Kurdistan Region–PKK conflict]]''' 
** [[Iraqi Kurdish Civil War|Kurdish Civil War]]
*'''[[Syrian Civil War]]'''
** [[Eastern Syria insurgency]]
*'''[[Iraqi-Kurdish conflict]]'''
**[[War in Iraq (2013–2017)]] 
***[[2017 Iraqi–Kurdish conflict]]
{{tree list/end}}
}}
| designated_as_terror_group_by = {{ubl|{{flag|Turkey}}<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.english.rfi.fr/asia-pacific/20140116-turkey-spy-agency-denies-role-paris-kurds-murder-launches-probe|title=Turkey spy agency denies role in Paris Kurds murder, launches probe|date=16 January 2014}}</ref>|{{flag|European Union}}<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://ec.europa.eu/neighbourhood-enlargement/sites/near/files/20190529-turkey-report.pdf|title=Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions|publisher=[[European Commission]]|date=29 May 2019}}</ref>|{{flag|NATO}}<ref>{{Cite web |title=TRILATERAL MEMORANDUM |url=https://www.nato.int/nato_static_fl2014/assets/pdf/2022/6/pdf/220628-trilat-memo.pdf |access-date=7 October 2023 |website=[[NATO]]}}</ref>|{{flag|United States}}<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.state.gov/foreign-terrorist-organizations/|title=Foreign Terrorist Organizations}}</ref>|{{flag|Canada}}<ref name="Currently listed entities">{{cite web|url=https://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/cnt/ntnl-scrt/cntr-trrrsm/lstd-ntts/crrnt-lstd-ntts-en.aspx#43|title=Currently listed entities|date=21 December 2018}}</ref>|{{flag|Japan}}<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.mofa.go.jp/announce/announce/2002/7/0705.html|title=MOFA: Implementation of the Measures including the Freezing of Assets against Terrorists and the Like|website=www.mofa.go.jp}}</ref>|{{flag|Iran}}<ref>{{cite web |date=1 March 2016 |title=Statement Made By İsmail Cem, Foreign Minister, On The Special Security Meeting Held Between Turkey And Syria October 20, 1998 (Unofficial Translation) / Rep. of Turkey Ministry of Foreign Affairs |url=http://www.mfa.gov.tr/_p_statement-made-by-ismail-cem_-foreign-minister_-on-the-special-security-meeting-held-between-turkey-and-syria_br_october-20_-1998_br__unofficial-translation___p_.en.mfa |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160301105039/http://www.mfa.gov.tr/_p_statement-made-by-ismail-cem_-foreign-minister_-on-the-special-security-meeting-held-between-turkey-and-syria_br_october-20_-1998_br__unofficial-translation___p_.en.mfa |archive-date=1 March 2016}}</ref>|{{flag|Australia}}<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nationalsecurity.gov.au/Listedterroristorganisations/Pages/default.aspx|title=Listed terrorist organisations &#124; Australian National Security|access-date=30 November 2019|archive-date=24 December 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181224211729/https://www.nationalsecurity.gov.au/Listedterroristorganisations/Pages/default.aspx|url-status=dead}}</ref>|{{flag|United Kingdom}}<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/proscribed-terror-groups-or-organisations--2/proscribed-terrorist-groups-or-organisations-accessible-version|title=Proscribed terrorist groups or organisations|publisher=Home Office|access-date=24 December 2021}}</ref>|{{flag|New Zealand}}<ref>{{cite web |url=https://gazette.govt.nz/notice/id/2010-go1066 |title=Designation of Terrorist Entities |date=18 February 2010 |publisher=New Zealand Government}}</ref>|{{flag|Azerbaijan}}<ref>{{cite web|url= https://news.az/articles/politics/41416|title= Azerbaijan officially recognizes PKK as terrorist organization|date= 2019|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20191015124117/https://news.az/articles/politics/41416|archive-date= 15 October 2019}}</ref>}}
| flag             = 
}}
The '''Kurdistan Workers' Party''',{{Efn|{{langx|ku|پارتیی کرێکارانی کوردستان |Partiya Karkerên Kurdistanê}} {{IPA|ku|pɑ:ɾti:jɑ: kɑ:ɾkɛre:n kʊrdɪstɑ:n||Kmr-Partiya Karkerên Kurdistan.oga}}}} or the '''PKK''', is<ref group="n" name="dissolution">Despite the PKK's 12th Congress announcing plans for total organisational dissolution, the PKK has not yet been dissolved [[de facto]] or [[de jure]].</ref> a [[Kurds|Kurdish]] [[militant]] political organization and armed [[List of guerrilla movements|guerrilla group]] primarily based in the mountainous Kurdish-majority regions of [[Turkish Kurdistan|southeastern Turkey]], [[Iraqi Kurdistan|northern Iraq]] and north-eastern Syria. It was founded in [[Ziyaret, Lice]] on 27 November 1978 and was involved in [[asymmetric warfare]] in the [[Kurdish–Turkish conflict (1978–present)|Kurdish–Turkish conflict]] (with several ceasefires between [[1993 Kurdistan Workers' Party ceasefire|1993]] and [[2013–2015 PKK–Turkey peace process|2013–2015]]). Although the PKK initially sought an independent Kurdish state, in the 1990s its official platform changed to seeking [[autonomy]] and increased [[Human rights of Kurdish people in Turkey|political and cultural rights for Kurds]] within Turkey.<ref name="Stanton" /> 

The PKK is [[List of designated terrorist groups|designated as a terrorist organization]] by Turkey,<ref name="RadioFrance"/> the United States,<ref name=":9">{{Cite web|title=Foreign Terrorist Organizations|url=https://www.state.gov/foreign-terrorist-organizations/|access-date=10 March 2021|website=United States Department of State|language=en-US}}</ref> the European Union,<ref name=":10">{{Cite web|title=Turkey 2019 Report|url=https://ec.europa.eu/neighbourhood-enlargement/sites/near/files/20190529-turkey-report.pdf|access-date=16 December 2019|website=ec.europa.eu|page=5}}</ref> Australia, and Japan.<ref name=":11">{{Cite web|publisher=Attorney-General's department|title=Listed terrorist organisations|url=https://www.nationalsecurity.gov.au/Listedterroristorganisations/Pages/default.aspx|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160205054738/http://www.nationalsecurity.gov.au/Listedterroristorganisations/Pages/default.aspx|archive-date=5 February 2016|access-date=18 December 2019|website=www.nationalsecurity.gov.au|language=en-au}}</ref><ref name="Japan_ban">{{cite web|title=MOFA: Implementation of the Measures including the Freezing of Assets against Terrorists and the Like|url=http://www.mofa.go.jp/announce/announce/2002/7/0705.html|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130406134416/http://www.mofa.go.jp/announce/announce/2002/7/0705.html|archive-date=6 April 2013|access-date=21 November 2013}}</ref> Some analysts and organizations disagree<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Haner |first1=Murat |last2=Cullen |first2=Francis T. |last3=Benson |first3=Michael L. |date=13 February 2019 |title=Women and the PKK: Ideology, Gender, and Terrorism |url=http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1057567719826632 |journal=International Criminal Justice Review |language=en |volume=30 |issue=3 |pages=279–301 |doi=10.1177/1057567719826632 |s2cid=150900998 |issn=1057-5677|url-access=subscription }}</ref> with this designation, believing that the PKK no longer engages in organized terrorist activities or systemically targets civilians.<ref>{{Cite news|date=20 August 2014|title=Kurdish Fighters Aren't Terrorists|language=en|work=[[Bloomberg News]]|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2014-08-20/kurdish-fighters-aren-t-terrorists|access-date=18 March 2021}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Levy|first=Bernard-Henri|date=22 October 2014|title=Stop Calling Our Closest Allies Against ISIS 'Terrorists'|magazine=The New Republic|url=https://newrepublic.com/article/119939/pkk-not-terrorist-organization-theyre-fighting-isis-terrorists|access-date=18 March 2021|issn=0028-6583}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Rubin|first=Michael|date=7 February 2020|title=US should follow Belgium's lead and end PKK terror designation|url=https://www.aei.org/op-eds/us-should-follow-belgiums-lead-and-end-pkk-terror-designation/|access-date=18 March 2021|website=[[American Enterprise Institute]]|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Beklevic|first=Tuna|date=22 October 2019|title=Trump says the PKK is worse than ISIS. I say he's wrong — and I'm a Turk.|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/10/22/us-president-says-pkk-is-worse-than-isis-i-say-hes-wrong-im-turk/|access-date=18 March 2021|quote=I am Turkish. I am a former government official. And I believe that the Kurdistan Workers' Party, the PKK... is not a terrorist organization.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=11 February 2016|title=The Case for Delisting the PKK as a Foreign Terrorist Organization|url=https://www.lawfaremedia.org/article/case-delisting-pkk-foreign-terrorist-organization|access-date=18 March 2021|website=Lawfare|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Bodette|first=Meghan|date=23 October 2018|title=It's time for the US to delist the PKK — here's why|work=The Region|url=https://theregion.org/article/13185-the-pkk-was-never-terrorist-organization-it-039-s-delist%20pkktime-for-us-to-delist-it-part-i|url-status=dead|access-date=18 March 2021|archive-date=30 September 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210930133910/https://theregion.org/article/13185-the-pkk-was-never-terrorist-organization-it-039-s-delist%20pkktime-for-us-to-delist-it-part-i}}</ref> Turkey has often characterized the demand for education in [[Kurdish languages|Kurdish]] as supporting terrorist activities by the PKK.<ref name=":142">{{Cite web |last=Can |first=Osman |date=17 June 2021 |title=The Motion before Turkey's Constitutional Court to Ban the Pro-Kurdish HDP |url=https://www.swp-berlin.org/en/publication/the-motion-before-turkeys-constitutional-court-to-ban-the-pro-kurdish-hdp |website=[[German Institute for International and Security Affairs]]}}</ref><ref name=":152">{{Cite web |last1=Skutnabb-Kangas |first1=Tove |author-link=Tove Skutnabb-Kangas |last2=Fernandes |first2=Desmond |author-link2=Desmond Fernandes |date=2008 |title=Kurds in Turkey and in (Iraqi) Kurdistan: A Comparison of Kurdish Educational Language Policy in Two Situations of Occupation |url=https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1182&context=gsp |website=[[International Association of Genocide Scholars|Genocide Studies and Prevention]] |page=46}}</ref><ref name=":162">{{Cite book |url=https://ifex.org/images/turkey/2010/11/01/protesting_as_a_terrorist_offense.pdf |title=Protesting as a terrorist offense |date=2010 |publisher=[[Human Rights Watch]] |isbn=978-1564327086 |pages=40–41 |access-date=11 December 2021 }}</ref>

The PKK's ideology was originally a fusion of [[revolutionary socialism]] and [[Marxism–Leninism]] with [[Kurdish nationalism]], seeking the foundation of an independent [[Kurdistan]].<ref name=":17">{{Cite journal|last=Jongerden|first=Joost|date=1 October 2017|title=Gender equality and radical democracy: Contractions and conflicts in relation to the "new paradigm" within the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK)|url=https://journals.openedition.org/anatoli/618|journal=Anatoli. De l'Adriatique à la Caspienne. Territoires, Politique, Sociétés|volume=8 |language=en|issue=8|pages=233–256|doi=10.4000/anatoli.618|issn=2111-4064}}</ref> The PKK was formed as part of a growing discontent over the suppression of Turkey's Kurds, in an effort to establish linguistic, cultural, and political rights for the Kurdish minority.<ref name="Palgrave Macmillan">{{cite book|last1=Joseph|first1=J.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=G06BDAAAQBAJ|title=Turkey and the European Union internal dynamics and external challenges|date=2006|publisher=[[Palgrave Macmillan]]|isbn=0230598587|location=Basingstoke [England]|page=100}}</ref> Following the [[1980 Turkish coup d'état|military coup of 1980]], the Kurdish language was officially prohibited in public and private life.<ref name="NYTK">Toumani, Meline. [https://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/17/magazine/17turkey-t.html?ex=1361854800&en=df64cf85326e2103&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink Minority Rules], ''[[The New York Times]]'', 17 February 2008</ref> Many who spoke, published, or sang in Kurdish were arrested and imprisoned.<ref name="Cambridge University Press">{{cite book|last1=Aslan|first1=Senem|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wTAWBQAAQBAJ|title=Nation Building in Turkey and Morocco|date=2014|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|isbn=978-1107054608|page=134}}</ref> The Turkish government [[Denial of Kurds by Turkey|denied the existence of Kurds]] and the PKK was portrayed trying to convince Turks of being Kurds.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Scalbert-Yücel |first1=Clémence |last2=Ray |first2=Marie Le |date=31 December 2006 |title=Knowledge, ideology and power. Deconstructing Kurdish Studies |url=https://journals.openedition.org/ejts/777#bodyftn32 |journal=European Journal of Turkish Studies. Social Sciences on Contemporary Turkey |language=en |issue=5 |doi=10.4000/ejts.777 |issn=1773-0546|doi-access=free |hdl=10036/37913 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> 

The PKK has been involved in armed clashes with Turkish security forces since 1979, but the full-scale insurgency did not begin until [[1984 PKK attacks|15 August 1984]], when the PKK announced a Kurdish uprising. Since the conflict began, more than 40,000 people have died, most of whom were Turkish Kurdish civilians.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Michael|first1=Gasper|editor1-last=Lust|editor1-first=Ellen|title=The Middle East|date=2019|publisher=CQ Press|isbn=978-1544358215|page=37|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5uujDwAAQBAJ|quote=The Turkish military responded with a ferocious counterinsurgency campaign that led to the deaths of nearly 40,000 people, most of them Turkish Kurdish civilians, and the displacement of more than three million Kurds from southeastern Turkey}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Abadi|first1=Cameron|title=Why Is Turkey Fighting Syria's Kurds?|url=https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/10/17/turkey-claim-syrian-kurds-terrorists-not-isis-ypg-pkk-sdf/|agency=Foreign Policy|date=17 October 2019}}</ref> In 1999, PKK leader [[Abdullah Öcalan]] was [[Imprisonment of Abdullah Öcalan|captured and imprisoned]].<ref>{{Cite web|last1=Hooper|first1=John|author-link=John Hooper (journalist)|last2=Kundnani|first2=Hans|last3=Morris|first3=Chris|date=18 February 1999|title=Military action and three deaths after Ocalan's capture|url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/1999/feb/18/johnhooper|access-date=29 November 2021|website=[[The Guardian]]|language=en}}</ref> In May 2007, serving and former members of the PKK set up the [[Kurdistan Communities Union]] (KCK), an umbrella organisation of Kurdish organisations in Turkish, Iraqi, [[Iranian Kurdistan|Iranian]], and [[Syrian Kurdistan]]. In 2013, the PKK declared a [[ceasefire]] and began slowly withdrawing its fighters to Iraqi Kurdistan as part of a [[2013–2015 PKK–Turkey peace process|peace process]] with the Turkish state. The ceasefire broke down in July 2015.<ref>{{cite news|title=PKK group says Turkish ceasefire over|url=http://rudaw.net/english/middleeast/turkey/120720151|access-date=1 January 2016|work=Rudaw}}</ref> Both the PKK and the Turkish state have been accused of engaging in [[Tactics of terrorism|terror tactics]] and targeting [[civilian]]s. The PKK has [[:Category:Kurdistan Workers' Party attacks|bombed city centres]] and recruited [[child soldiers]],<ref name="amnestysecurity">{{Cite web|url=https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6a9ea0.html|title=No Security Without Human Rights|publisher=[[Amnesty International]]|access-date=1 February 2021}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10576100701558620|doi=10.1080/10576100701558620|title=The Kurdish Workers Party (PKK) as Criminal Syndicate: Funding Terrorism through Organized Crime, A Case Study|year=2007|last1=Roth|first1=Mitchel P.|last2=Sever|first2=Murat|journal=Studies in Conflict & Terrorism|volume=30|issue=10|pages=901–920|s2cid=110700560|url-access=subscription}}</ref><ref name="childsoldiers">{{Cite web|url=https://www.refworld.org/docid/498805c428.html|title=Child Soldiers Global Report 2001 – Turkey|publisher=[[Child Soldiers International]]|access-date=1 February 2021}}</ref> and conducted several attacks that massacred civilians.<ref name="M. Aliza, 2007">{{cite book|last=Aliza|first=Marcus|title=The PKK and the Kurdish Fight for Independence|year=2007|publisher=New York University Press|location=New York|pages=115–120}}</ref><ref name=NYT>{{cite news|agency=Reuters News|title=Kurdish Rebels Kill 20 In 2 Villages in Turkey|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/07/10/world/kurdish-rebels-kill-20-in-2-villages-in-turkey.html|access-date=21 October 2012|newspaper=The New York Times|date=July 1987}} The dead consisted of 16 children, eight village guards, and eight women.</ref><ref name="satana">{{cite journal|last1=Satana|first1=Nil S.|date=2012|title=The Kurdish Issue in June 2011 Elections: Continuity or Change in Turkey's Democratization?|journal=Turkish Studies|publisher=Routledge|volume=13|issue=2|pages=169–189|doi=10.1080/14683849.2012.686575|quote=In those years, the PKK committed several "crimes against humanity" such as the Pınarcık massacre in 1987 in which 8 village guards, 16 children and 8 women were slaughtered in a raid on a village in Mardin province.|hdl=11693/21264|s2cid=55920795|hdl-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Ajansı|first=İlke Haber|date=28 June 2018|title=PKK'nin katliamlar tarihi|url=https://ilkha.com/guncel/pkknin-katliamlar-tarihi-78601|access-date=8 February 2022|website=İLKHA|language=tr-TR}}</ref> Turkey has depopulated and burned down [[Kurdish villages depopulated by Turkey|thousands of Kurdish villages]] and massacred Kurdish civilians in an attempt to root out PKK militants.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Jongerden|first=Joost|date=6 June 2005|title=Villages of No Return|url=https://merip.org/2005/06/villages-of-no-return/|access-date=18 March 2021|website=[[Middle East Research and Information Project|MERIP]]|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Filkins|first=Dexter|date=24 October 2003|title=Kurds Are Finally Heard: Turkey Burned Our Villages|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/24/world/kurds-are-finally-heard-turkey-burned-our-villages.html|access-date=18 March 2021|issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Phillips|first=David|date=8 July 2020|title=Turkey must face a reckoning for its crimes in Iraqi Kurdistan|url=https://ahvalnews.com/northern-iraq/turkey-must-face-reckoning-its-crimes-iraqi-kurdistan|url-status=dead|access-date=18 March 2021|website=[[Ahval]]|language=en|archive-date=31 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210131044506/https://ahvalnews.com/northern-iraq/turkey-must-face-reckoning-its-crimes-iraqi-kurdistan}}</ref><ref>Ferhad Ibrahim, Gülistan Gürbey. [https://books.google.com/books?id=qwBdLcnlu_oC&dq=kurdish+villages+depopulated+by+turkey&pg=PA167 ''The Kurdish conflict in Turkey: obstacles and chances for peace and democracy''], Palgrave Macmillan, 2000. p. 167. {{ISBN|0312236298}}</ref><ref>Dahlman, Carl. [http://people.cas.sc.edu/dahlmanc/dahlman%202002%20political%20geography%20of%20kurdistan.pdf The Political Geography of Kurdistan] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081003071614/http://people.cas.sc.edu/dahlmanc/Dahlman%202002%20Political%20Geography%20of%20Kurdistan.pdf|date=3 October 2008}} p. 11</ref>

On 1 March 2025 the PKK declared a ceasefire with Turkey,<ref>{{Cite web |date=1 March 2025 |title=Kurdish group PKK declares ceasefire with Turkey |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cgkmg3kmmero |access-date=1 March 2025 |website=[[BBC]] |language=en-GB}}</ref> and on 12 May, announced plans for a total dissolution of the organisation.<ref>{{Cite web |date=12 May 2025 |title=A Kurdish militant group decides to disband and disarm as part of a peace initiative with Turkey |url=https://apnews.com/article/turkey-kurdish-militants-disarm-9f4347a04cba48ceb509d2e82023a19e |access-date=18 May 2025 |website=[[Associated Press]] |publisher=}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Yeung |first=Jessie |date=12 May 2025 |title=Kurdish PKK militant separatist group announces decision to dissolve after decades of conflict with Turkey |url=https://www.cnn.com/2025/05/12/middleeast/turkey-pkk-militia-dissolves-intl-hnk |access-date=17 May 2025 |website=CNN |language=en}}</ref>

== Background ==
As a result of the [[1971 Turkish military memorandum|Turkish military coup of 1971]], many militants of the revolutionary left were deprived of a public appearance. Movements like the [[People's Liberation Army of Turkey]] (THKO) or the [[Communist Party of Turkey/Marxist–Leninist]] (TKP-ML) were cracked down upon and forbidden.<ref name=":17" /> Subsequently, several of the remaining political actors of the Turkish left organized away from the public in university dorms or in meetings in shared apartments.<ref name=":17"/> In 1972–1973 the organization's core ideological group was made up largely of students led by [[Abdullah Öcalan]] ("Apo") in [[Ankara]] who made themselves known as the "Kurdistan Revolutionaries"''.''<ref name=":17"/> The new group focused on the oppressed Kurdish population of [[Turkish Kurdistan]] in a capitalist world.<ref name=":17"/> In 1973, several students who later would become founders of the PKK established the student organization {{Interlanguage link|Ankara Democratic Association of Higher Education|tr|Ankara Demokratik Yüksek Öğrenim Derneği}} (ADYÖD), which would be banned the next year.<ref>{{Citation |title=PKK Pre-conflict Mobilisation (1974–1984) |date=2021 |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/understanding-insurgency/pkk-preconflict-mobilisation-19741984/D7965C34E09A1ACAD789790208CA5D1D |work=Understanding Insurgency: Popular Support for the PKK in Turkey |page=75 |editor-last=O'Connor |editor-first=Francis |place=[[Cambridge]] |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |doi=10.1017/9781108975087.004 |isbn=978-1108838504 |s2cid=242499406 |access-date=16 March 2022|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Then a group around Öcalan split from the Turkish left and held extensive discussions focusing on the [[Internal colonialism|colonization]] of Kurdistan by Turkey.<ref>O'Connor, Francis, ed., pp. 75–76</ref> Following the [[1980 Turkish coup d'état|military coup of 1980]], the Kurdish language was officially prohibited in public and private life.<ref name="NYTK" /> Many who spoke, published, or sang in Kurdish were arrested and imprisoned.<ref name="Cambridge University Press" />  At this time, expressions of [[Kurdish culture]], including the use of the [[Kurdish language]], dress, [[folklore]], and names, were banned in Turkey.<ref name="hannum">{{cite book |last1=Hannum |first1=Hurst |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=28PEGfCDiZEC |title=Autonomy, sovereignty, and self-determination: the accommodation of conflicting rights |date=1996 |publisher=Univ. of Pennsylvania Press |isbn=0812215729 |edition=Rev. |location=Philadelphia |pages=187–189}}</ref> In an attempt to deny their separate existence from [[Turkish people]], the Turkish government categorized [[Kurds]] as "Mountain Turks" until 1991.<ref name="hannum" /><ref>Bartkus, Viva Ona, ''The Dynamic of Secession'', (Cambridge University Press, 1999), 90–91.</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Çelik|first=Yasemin|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=y9PXcwFOLNcC&pg=PA3|title=Contemporary Turkish foreign policy|publisher=Praeger|year=1999|isbn=978-0275965907|edition=1. publ.|location=Westport, Conn.|page=3}}</ref> The PKK was then formed as part of a growing discontent over the suppression of [[Kurds in Turkey]], in an effort to establish linguistic, cultural, and political rights for Turkey's Kurdish minority.<ref name="Palgrave Macmillan" />

Following several years of preparation, the Kurdistan Workers Party was established during a foundation congress on 26 and 27 November 1978 in the rural village of [[Ziyaret, Lice|Fîs]], Lice, Diyarbakır. On 27 November 1978,<ref name=":62">{{Cite book|last=Jongerden|first=Joost|title=The Settlement Issue in Turkey and the Kurds: An Analysis of Spatial Policies, Modernity and War|year=2007|publisher=Brill|isbn=978-9047420118|page=55|language=en}}</ref> a central committee consisting of seven people was elected, with Abdullah Öcalan as its head. Other members were: {{Interlanguage link|Şahin Dönmez|lt=Şahin Dönmez|ku||WD=}}, [[Mazlum Doğan]], [[Haki Karer]] (an ethnic Turk),<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ufheil-Somers |first=Amanda |date=16 July 1988 |title=Between Guerrilla Warfare and Political Murder |url=https://merip.org/1988/07/between-guerrilla-warfare-and-political-murder/ |access-date=10 December 2024 |website=MERIP |quote=Karer was one of the Turkish members of the original group that founded the PKK |language=en-US}}</ref> {{Interlanguage link|Mehmet Hayri Durmuş|lt=Mehmet Hayri Durmuş|ku||WD=}}, {{Interlanguage link|Mehmet Karasungur|lt=Mehmet Karasungur|ku||WD=}}, [[Cemîl Bayik|Cemîl Bayîk]].<ref name=":62" /> The party program ''Kürdistan Devrimci Yolu'' drew on Marxism<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Schoon |first=Eric W. |date=2015 |title=The Paradox of Legitimacy: Resilience, Successes, and the Multiple Identities of the Kurdistan Workers' Party in Turkey |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/26370847 |journal=Social Problems |volume=62 |issue=2 |pages=273–274 |doi=10.1093/socpro/spv006 |jstor=26370847 |issn=0037-7791|url-access=subscription }}</ref> and saw Kurdistan as a colonized entity.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Yilmaz |first=Cihat |url=https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/download/article-file/2139658 |title=Turkey's Kurdish Question Revisited; Perspectives of Kurdish Political Parties Towards the Kurdish Issue |publisher=Nubihar Akademi |year=2021 |pages=191–192}}</ref> Initially the PKK concealed its existence and only announced their existence in a propaganda stunt when they attempted to assassinate a politician of the [[Justice Party (Turkey)|Justice Party]], Mehmet Celal Bucak,<ref name=":62" /> in July 1979. Bucak was a Kurdish tribal leader accused by the PKK of exploiting peasants and collaborating with the Turkish state to oppress Kurds.<ref name=":62" />

== Ideology and aims ==
[[File:PKK Verbot.jpg|thumb|Protest for freedom of [[Abdullah Öcalan|Öcalan]] in Germany, 21 January 2016]]
The organization originated in the early 1970s from the radical left and drew its membership from other existing leftist groups, mainly [[Revolutionary Youth Federation of Turkey|Dev-Genç]].<ref name="joost">Jongerden, Joost. "[http://epa.uz.ua/02300/02341/00010/pdf/EPA02341_ceu_2008_01_120-132.pdf PKK] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211031212246/http://epa.uz.ua/02300/02341/00010/pdf/EPA02341_ceu_2008_01_120-132.pdf |date=31 October 2021 }}," CEU Political Science Journal. Vol. 3, No. 1, page 127–132.</ref>{{Rp|127}} During the 1980s, the movement included and cooperated with other ethnic groups, including ethnic Turks, who were following the radical left.<ref name="joost" />{{Rp|127}}<ref name="joost" />{{Rp|129}} The organization initially presented itself as part of the [[World revolution|worldwide communist revolution]]. Its aims and objectives have evolved over time towards the goals of national autonomy<ref>{{cite journal|url=https://www.academia.edu/11674094|title=Turkey and the Kurds – From War to Reconciliation?|first=Yado|last=Arin|journal=Working Paper at UC Berkeley's Center for Right-Wing Studies|date=26 March 2015|access-date=28 December 2018}}</ref> a federation similar the one of Switzerland, Germany or the United States<ref name="Stanton" /> and [[democratic confederalism]].<ref>{{cite news|last1=Self|first1=Andrew|title=What Was It All For?|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/andrew-self/turkey-pkk-ocalan_b_2612112.html|access-date=24 July 2017|work=Huffington Post|date=3 February 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Who are Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) rebels?|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-20971100|access-date=24 July 2017|work=BBC News|date=4 November 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Marcus|first1=Aliza|title=Blood and belief : the PKK and the Kurdish fight for independence|date=2009|publisher=New York University Press|location=New York|isbn=978-0814795873|pages=287–288|edition=1.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6rcUCgAAQBAJ|quote=Instead of struggling for autonomy, a federation, or independence, Kurds would now fight for a truly democratic Turkey, in which Kurds and Turks would be unified in the way that Turkey's founder Ataturk had imagined}}</ref>

Around 1995, the PKK ostensibly changed its aim from independence to a demand for equal rights and Kurdish autonomy within the Turkish state,<ref>{{cite book|last1=White|first1=Paul|title=The PKK: Coming Down from the Mountains|date=2015|publisher=Zed Books Ltd.|isbn=978-1783600403|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5hBkDgAAQBAJ&q=PKK+autonomy+and&pg=PT79|access-date=24 July 2017|language=en}}</ref><ref name="Stanton" /><ref>{{cite news |date=2 February 2016 |title=Turkish lecturer to be put on trial for posing exam question on PKK leader |work=[[The Guardian]] |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/feb/03/turkish-lecturer-to-be-put-on-trial-for-posing-exam-question-on-pkk-leader |access-date=24 July 2017}}</ref> though all the while hardly suspending their military attacks on the Turkish state except for ceasefires in 1999–2004 and 2013–2015. In 1995, Öcalan said: "We are not insisting on a separate state under any condition. What we are calling for very openly is a state model where a people's basic economic, cultural, social, and political rights are guaranteed".<ref name="Stanton">{{cite book |last1=Stanton |first1=Jessica A. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1NX4DAAAQBAJ&q=PKK+demands+autonomy&pg=PA217 |title=Violence and Restraint in Civil War: Civilian Targeting in the Shadow of International Law |date=2016 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |isbn=978-1107069107 |page=217 |language=en |access-date=24 July 2017}}</ref>

Whilst this shift in the mid-nineties has been interpreted as one from a call for independence to an autonomous republic,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Yavuz |first1=M. Hakan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UoZRR0gUbJIC&pg=PA177 |title=Secularism and Muslim Democracy in Turkey |date=2009 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |isbn=978-0521888783 |pages=176–177}}</ref> some scholars have concluded that the PKK still maintains independence as the ultimate goal, but through society-building rather than state-building.<ref>Casier, Marlies. "Beyond Mesopotamia? The Mesopotamia Social Forum and the appropriation and re-imagination of Mesopotamia by the Kurdish movement" in {{cite book|editor1-last=Gambetti|editor1-first=Zeynep|editor2-last=Jongerden|editor2-first=Joost|title=The Kurdish Issue in Turkey: A Spatial Perspective|date=2015|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1317581529|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gZUGCAAAQBAJ&pg=PA147}}</ref><ref>Akkaya, Ahmet Hamdi; Jongerden, Joost. "The PKK in the 2000s" in {{cite book|editor1-last=Marlies|editor1-first=Casier|editor2-last=Jongerden|editor2-first=Joost|title=Nationalisms and Politics in Turkey: Political Islam, Kemalism and the Kurdish Issue|date=2010|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1136938672|page=156|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6vYtCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA156}}</ref>

The PKK has in March 2016 also vowed to overthrow the Turkish government of [[Recep Tayyip Erdoğan]], through the '[[Peoples' United Revolutionary Movement]]'.{{citation needed|date=October 2024}}

The organization has adapted the new [[Democratic confederalism|democratic confederalist]] views of its arrested leader, which aim to replace the [[United Nations]], [[capitalism]] and [[nation state]] with the democratic confederalism which is described as a system of popularly elected administrative councils, allowing local communities to exercise autonomous control over their assets while linking to other communities via a network of confederal councils.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.freeocalan.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/Ocalan-Democratic-Confederalism.pdf|title=Democratic Confederalism|website=Freeocalan.org|access-date=28 December 2018}}</ref> Followers of Öcalan and members of the PKK are known, after his honorary name, as ''Apocu'' (Apo-ites) under his movement, ''Apoculuk'' (Apoism).<ref name="Mango2005">{{cite book |author=Mango |first=Andrew |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Q9lfQvRL7J4C&pg=PA32 |title=Turkey and the War on Terror: For Forty Years We Fought Alone |publisher=[[Taylor & Francis]] |year=2005 |isbn=978-0415350020 |page=32 |author-link=Andrew Mango}}</ref> The slogan ''[[Bijî Serok Apo]]'', which translates into Long Live leader Apo, is often chanted by his sympathizers.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Mit wehenden Öcalan-Flaggen |url=https://www.fr.de/frankfurt/wehenden-oecalan-flaggen-11169369.html |access-date=27 November 2022 |website=[[Frankfurter Rundschau]] |date=30 November 2014 |language=de}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Öcalan poster in Diyarbakır Newroz |url=http://mezopotamyaajansi35.com/en/ALL-NEWS/content/view/165567 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230716054729/http://mezopotamyaajansi35.com/en/ALL-NEWS/content/view/165567 |url-status=dead |archive-date=16 July 2023 |access-date=27 November 2022 |website=mezopotamyaajansi35.com }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Werthschulte |first=Christian |date=5 September 2016 |title=Ein Volksfest für Öcalan |language=de |page=7 |work=Die Tageszeitung: taz |url=https://taz.de/!5333261/ |access-date=27 November 2022 |issn=0931-9085}}</ref>

=== Religion ===
While the PKK has no known Islamist or practicing religious member among its leadership, it has supported the creation of religious organizations.<ref>Karakoç, Ekrem; Sarıgil, Zeki (June 2020). pp. 253–254</ref> It has also supported [[Friday prayer]]s to be in Kurdish instead of the Turkish language.<ref>Karakoç, Ekrem; Sarıgil, Zeki (June 2020). p. 253</ref> Öcalans early writings did not have a positive view of Islam, but later works had a more favorable tone, specifically regarding the revolutionary activity of [[Muhammad]] against an established order, as well as the role Islam can play in reconciliation between Kurds and Turks.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Karakoç |first1=Ekrem |last2=Sarıgil |first2=Zeki |date=June 2020 |title=Why Religious People Support Ethnic Insurgency? Kurds, Religion and Support for the PKK |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/politics-and-religion/article/abs/why-religious-people-support-ethnic-insurgency-kurds-religion-and-support-for-the-pkk/849D2EF7A64EA895D00714A82D0B3DB0 |journal=Politics and Religion |language=en |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |volume=13 |issue=2 |page=251 |doi=10.1017/S1755048319000312 |hdl=11693/53234 |s2cid=202266557 |issn=1755-0483|hdl-access=free |url-access=subscription }}</ref> The PKK was accused of having a presence in mosques in Germany to attract religious Muslim Kurds into their ranks.<ref>{{Cite web |title=PKK camileri de böldü |url=https://www.yeniakit.com.tr/haber/pkk-camileri-de-boldu-4438.html |access-date=6 May 2023 |website=m.yeniakit.com.tr}}</ref> Öcalan had respect for [[Zoroastrianism]] and saw it as the first religion of the Kurds.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Raßbach |first=Benjamin |date=2021 |title=Zoroastrianism and Secularity in Sinjar / Multiple Secularities |url=https://www.multiple-secularities.de/bulletin/zoroastrianism-and-secularity-in-sinjar/?filter2=all |access-date=30 May 2022 |website=www.multiple-secularities.de |publisher=[[Universität Leipzig]]}}</ref>

==Organization==
Even though the PKK had several prominent representatives in various countries such as Iraq, Iran, Syria, Russia, and Europe,<ref name="frank2006">Frank C. Urbancic, "[https://2001-2009.state.gov/s/ct/rls/rm/07/83999.htm Briefing on Release of 2006 Country Reports on Terrorism]," [[U.S. Department of State]], 30 April 2007 [https://2001-2009.state.gov/s/ct/rls/rm/07/83999.htm]</ref> Abdullah Öcalan stayed the unchallenged leader of the organization. Today, though serving life imprisonment, Öcalan is still considered the honorary leader and figurehead of the organization.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.unb.ca/bruns/9900/issue19/intnews/kurdish.html|archive-url=http://arquivo.pt/wayback/20091014125228/http://www.unb.ca/bruns/9900/issue19/intnews/kurdish.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=14 October 2009|access-date=8 October 2008|title=Kurdish leader continues struggle from jail|date=18 February 2000|volume=133|issue=19|quote=...Öcalan sends messages to his guerrillas through his lawyers...|agency=[[Associated Press]]|work=Bruns International|publisher=Brunswickan Publishing Inc.}}</ref>

[[Murat Karayılan]] led the organization from 1999 to 2013. In 2013 Cemil Bayik and Besê Hozat assumed as the first joint leadership.<ref>{{cite book|title=The PKK: Coming Down from the Mountains|last1=White|first1=Paul|publisher=Zed Books Ltd.|year=2015|isbn=978-1783600403|location=London|page=26|language=en}}</ref> Cemil Bayik was one of the core leaders since its foundation. The organization appointed "Doctor Bahoz", [[Nom-de-guerre|nom de guerre]] of [[Bahoz Erdal|Fehman Huseyin]], a [[Kurds in Syria|Syrian Kurd]], in charge of the movement's military operations signifying the long-standing solidarity among Kurds from all parts of Kurdistan.<ref name="Brandon2007">Brandon, James. "[http://www.jamestown.org/terrorism/news/article.php?articleid=2370250 The PKK and Syria's Kurds] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071107082810/http://www.jamestown.org/terrorism/news/article.php?articleid=2370250 |date=7 November 2007 }}," ''Global Terrorism Analysis'', [[Jamestown Foundation]] Volume 5, Issue 3 (15 February 2007).</ref>

=== Political and popular wing ===
In 1985, the National Liberation Front of Kurdistan ({{langx|ku-Latn|Eniye Rizgariye Navata Kurdistan}}, ERNK) was established by the PKK as its [[popular front]] wing, with the role of both creating propaganda for the party, and as an [[umbrella organization]] for PKK organizations in different segments of the Kurdish population, such as the [[peasantry]], workers, youth, and women. It was dissolved in 1999, after the [[Imprisonment of Abdullah Öcalan|capture of Abdullah Öcalan]].<ref name="PRIF" /><ref>{{cite web |last1=Gunter |first1=Michael M. |author-link=Michael Gunter |title=Kurdistan National Liberation Front |url=http://kurds_history.enacademic.com/336/Kurdistan_National_Liberation_Front |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200103163458/http://kurds_history.enacademic.com/336/Kurdistan_National_Liberation_Front |archive-date=3 January 2020 |access-date=22 May 2019 |website=Historical Dictionary of the Kurds |publisher=Academic Dictionaries and Encyclopedias |language=en}}</ref>

=== Cultural branch ===
In 1983, the Association of Artists (''{{ill|Hunerkom|ku}}'') was established in Germany under the lead of the music group {{Interlanguage link|Koma Berxwedan|lt=Koma Berxwedan|ku||WD=}}. Its activities spread over Kurdish community centers in [[Kurds in France|France]], [[Kurds in Germany|Germany]] and the [[Kurds in the Netherlands|Netherlands]]. In 1994 the Hunerkom was renamed into the 'Kurdish Academy of Culture and Arts'. Koma Berxwedans songs, which often were about the PKK resistance, were forbidden in Turkey and had to be smuggled over the border.<ref name=":18">{{Cite book|last=Gunes|first=Cengiz|title=The Kurdish National Movement in Turkey: From Protest to Resistance|year= 2013|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1136587986|pages=112–113|language=en}}</ref>

=== Armed wing ===
The PKK had an armed wing, originally formed in 1984 as the Kurdistan Freedom Brigades ({{langx|ku-Latn|Hêzên Rizgariya Kurdistan}}, HRK),<ref>{{cite web |last1=Gunter |first1=Michael M. |website=Historical Dictionary of the Kurds |title=Hazen Rizgariya Kurdistan |url=http://kurds_history.enacademic.com/218/Hazen_Rizgariya_Kurdistan |publisher=Academic Dictionaries and Encyclopedias |access-date=22 May 2019 |language=en |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160715013342/http://kurds_history.enacademic.com/218/Hazen_Rizgariya_Kurdistan |archive-date=15 July 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref> renamed to the People's Liberation Army of Kurdistan ({{langx|ku-Latn|Arteşa Rizgariya Gelî Kurdistan}}, ARGK) in 1986,<ref name="PRIF">{{cite book |last1=O'Connor |first1=Francis |title=The Kurdish movement in Turkey: between political differentiation and violent confrontation |date=2017 |publisher=Peace Research Institute Frankfurt |isbn=978-3946459217 |url=https://www.hsfk.de/fileadmin/HSFK/hsfk_publikationen/prif147.pdf |access-date=22 May 2019 |archive-date=4 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230404070742/https://www.hsfk.de/fileadmin/HSFK/hsfk_publikationen/prif147.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> and again renamed to the [[People's Defense Forces]] ({{langx|ku-Latn|Hêzên Parastina Gel}}, HPG) in 1999.<ref>{{cite web |last1= M. Gunter |first1= Michael |title= Hezen Parastina Gel |url= http://kurds_history.enacademic.com/221/Hezen_Parastina_Gel |website= Historical Dictionary of the Kurds |publisher= Academic Dictionaries and Encyclopedias |access-date= 22 May 2019 |language= en |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20191017235354/http://kurds_history.enacademic.com/221/Hezen_Parastina_Gel |archive-date= 17 October 2019 |url-status= dead }}</ref>

=== Women's armed wing ===
[[File:Kurdish PKK guerrillas.jpg|thumb|Female PKK guerrillas of [[YJA-STAR]].]]
The [[Free Women's Units]] of Star ({{langx|ku-Latn|Yekîneyên Jinên Azad ên Star}},<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.yjastar.com/|title=Yekîneyên Jinên Azad ên Star – YJA STAR|website=www.yjastar.com|access-date=16 December 2019|archive-date=4 October 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241004084541/https://yjastar.com/|url-status=dead}}</ref> YJA-STAR) was established in 2004 as the women's armed wing of the PKK, emphasizing the issue of women's liberation.<ref name="ARMYOFWOMEN">{{cite web|title=Interview with the World's First Army of Women: YJA-STAR|url=https://machorka.espivblogs.net/2015/08/17/interview-with-the-worlds-first-army-of-women-yja-star/|website=Machorka|access-date=22 May 2019|date=17 August 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191027142448/https://machorka.espivblogs.net/2015/08/17/interview-with-the-worlds-first-army-of-women-yja-star/|archive-date=27 October 2019|url-status=dead}}</ref>

=== Youth wing ===
The [[Civil Protection Units|Civil Protections Units]] (YPS) is the successor of the [[YDG-H|Patriotic Revolutionary Youth Movement]] (YDG-H), the youth wing of the PKK.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://anfenglish.com/women/university-students-join-the-ranks-of-yps-jin-in-cizre-13624|title=University students join the ranks of YPS-Jin in Cizre|website=ANF News|language=en|access-date=17 February 2020}}</ref> In February 2016 the [[Firat News Agency|ANF]] news agency reported the establishment of the women's branch of the YPS, the [[YPS-Jin]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://anfenglish.com/women/yps-jin-gever-announces-its-establishment-13815|title=YPS-Jin Gever announces its establishment|website=ANF News|language=en|access-date=17 February 2020}}</ref>

===Training camps===
The first training camps were established in 1982 in Turkey, Iraq, Syria, Iran and also in [[Beqaa Valley]] with the support of the Syrian government.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://fas.org/irp/world/para/docs/studies3.htm|access-date=9 October 2008|title=The Workers' Party of Kurdistan (PKK)|publisher=Republic of Turkey, Ministry of Foreign Affairs}}</ref><ref name="Simon">{{cite news|first=Simon|last=Hooper|title=PKK's decades of violent struggle|url=http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/europe/10/10/pkk.profile/index.html|work=CNN|date= 11 October 2007|access-date=10 October 2008}}</ref> In the third party congress of October 1986, the PKK established the [[Mahsum Korkmaz Academy]] in the Beqaa Valley.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Casier |first1=Marlies |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6vYtCgAAQBAJ&dq=Mahsum+Korkmaz+military+academy&pg=PA137 |title=Nationalisms and Politics in Turkey: Political Islam, Kemalism and the Kurdish Issue |last2=Jongerden |first2=Joost |year=2010 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |isbn=978-1136938672 |page=137 |language=en}}</ref> After Turkey pressured Syria to enforce its closure in 1992, the academy moved to [[Damascus]].<ref name=":03">{{Cite journal |last=Grojean |first=Olivier |date=9 July 2014 |title=The Production of the New Man Within the PKK |url=https://journals.openedition.org/ejts/4925#tocto2n4 |journal=European Journal of Turkish Studies. Social Sciences on Contemporary Turkey |language=en |doi=10.4000/ejts.4925 |issn=1773-0546|doi-access=free }}</ref> After the Iran-Iraq War and the [[Iraqi Kurdish Civil War|Kurdish Civil War]], the PKK moved all its camps to Northern Iraq in 1998. The PKK had also completely moved to [[Qandil Mountains]] from Beqaa Valley, under intensive pressure, after Syria expelled Öcalan and shut down all camps established in the region.<ref name="Simon" /> At the time, Northern Iraq was experiencing a vacuum of control after the [[Gulf War]]-related [[Operation Provide Comfort]]. Instead of a single training camp that could be easily destroyed, the organization created many small camps. During this period the organization set up a fully functioning enclave with training camps, storage facilities, and reconnaissance and communications centers.

In 2007, the organization was reported to have camps strung out through the mountains that straddle the border between Turkey and Iraq, including in Sinaht, Haftanin, Kanimasi and Zap.<ref name="gareth" /> The organization developed two types of camps. The mountain camps, located in Turkey, Iraq and Iran, are used as forward bases from which militants carry out attacks against Turkish military bases. The units deployed there are highly mobile and the camps have only minimal infrastructure.<ref name="gareth" /> The other permanent camps, in the Qandil Mountains of Iraq, have more developed infrastructure—including a field hospital, electricity generators and a large proportion of the PKK's lethal and non-lethal supplies.<ref name="gareth">Jenkins, Gareth.{{cite web |url=http://www.jamestown.org/terrorism/news/article.php?articleid=2370250 |title= Turkey Weighs Military Options Against PKK Camps in Iraq |access-date= 18 December 2008 |url-status= bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071107082810/http://www.jamestown.org/terrorism/news/article.php?articleid=2370250 |archive-date=7 November 2007 }}, ''Global Terrorism Analysis'', Volume 4, Issue 33 16 October 2007.</ref> The organization is also using the Qandil mountain camps for its political activities. It was reported in 2004 that there was another political training camp in Belgium, evidence that the organization had used training camps in Europe for political and ideological training.<ref>"[http://daccess-ods.un.org/access.nsf/Get?Open&DS=A/59/44(SUPP)&Lang=E Report Of The Committee Against Torture]," United Nations [[Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights|OHCHR]], 2004, pp. 276–277.</ref>

===Political representation===
[[File:Hdp2015secim.png|thumb|275px|Percentage of the popular vote won by the pro-Kurdish [[Peoples' Democratic Party (Turkey)|Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP)]] in the [[June 2015 Turkish general election|2015 Turkish general election]]. According to Egemen Bezci and Nicholas Borroz, "[t]he HDP's elections results . . . are a proxy indicator of popular support for the PKK".<ref>{{cite web|last1=Bezci|first1=Egemen|last2=Borroz|first2=Nicholas|date=22 September 2015|title=The renewed Turkey-PKK conflict has shattered the illusion that Kurds can participate legitimately in Turkey's political system|work=EUROPP |url=http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/europpblog/2015/09/22/the-renewed-turkey-pkk-conflict-has-shattered-the-illusion-that-kurds-can-participate-legitimately-in-turkeys-political-system/|publisher=[[London School of Economics]]}}</ref>]]The PKK could count on support from protests and [[Demonstration (protest)|demonstrations]] often directed against policies of the Turkish government.<ref name=":13">{{Cite web|last=Ünaldı|first=Gönenç|date=21 October 2014|title=Democratic representation of pro-Kurdish political parties in Turkey|url=https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/can-europe-make-it/democratic-representation-of-prokurdish-political-parties-in-turkey/|access-date=6 December 2021|website=openDemocracy|language=en}}</ref> The PKK also fought a turf war against other radical Islamist Kurdish and Turkish organizations in Turkey. Turkish newspapers said that the PKK effectively used the prison force to gain appeal among the population which PKK has denied.<ref name=":4">{{cite news|date=3 December 2007|title=Eski Dışişleri Bakanı Hikmet Çetin: PKK'nın temeli 12 Eylül'de atıldı|language=tr|work=[[Zaman (newspaper)|Zaman]]|agency=[[Cihan News Agency]]|url=http://www.zaman.com.tr/haber.do?haberno=620819|url-status=dead|access-date=9 July 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090114072107/http://www.zaman.com.tr/haber.do?haberno=620819|archive-date=14 January 2009|quote=PKK aslında nereden şiddetle çıktı. Bana göre Diyarbakır Cezaevi'nden, 12 Eylül'den sonra çıktı. Yani ortam, orada hazırlandı. Çıkış yeri orası. Orada işkenceden insanlar öldü. Sakat kalanlar Avrupa'ya gitti. Öyle bir ortamda.}}</ref><ref name=":5">Immigration Appeals: 2nd – 3rd Quarter (2004), by Great Britain Immigration Appeal Tribunal</ref>

==== Alleged political representation ====
{{Main|Kurdish Political Movement in Turkey}}
The organization had sympathizer parties in the [[Grand National Assembly of Turkey]] since the beginning of the early 1990s. The existence of direct links between the parties and the PKK have several times been a question in Turkish politics but also in Turkish and European courts.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Party for a Democratic Society (DTP) and Others v. Turkey |url=https://www.eods.eu/elex/uploads/files/5c863bfe20ad6-Party%20for%20a%20Democratic%20Society%20(DTP)%20and%20Others%20v.%20Turkey.pdf |access-date=6 December 2021 |website=[[European Court of Human Rights]]}}</ref><ref name=":13" /> In sequence [[People's Labor Party|HEP]]/[[Democracy Party (Turkey)|DEP]]/[[People's Democracy Party|HADEP]]/[[Democratic People's Party (Turkey)|DEHAP]]/[[Democratic Society Party|DTP]] and the [[Peace and Democracy Party (Turkey)|BDP]], which later changed its name to [[Democratic Regions Party]] (DBP) on 11 July 2014,<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.evrensel.net/haber/88097/bdpnin-adi-demokratik-bolgeler-partisi-oldu |title=BDP'nin adı Demokratik Bölgeler Partisi oldu|date=11 July 2014|newspaper=[[Evrensel]]|access-date=24 February 2015}}</ref> as well as the [[Peoples' Democratic Party (Turkey)|HDP]] and then [[Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party|DEM]] have been criticized of sympathizing with the PKK, since they have refused to brand it as a terrorist group.

Political organizations established in Turkey are banned from propagating or supporting separatism. Several political parties supporting Kurdish rights have been reportedly banned on this pretext. The constitutional court stated to find direct links between the [[People's Labor Party|HEP]]/[[Democracy Party (Turkey)|DEP]]/[[People's Democracy Party|HADEP]] and the PKK. In 2007 against the [[Democratic Society Party closure case|DTP was initiated a closure case]] before the [[Constitutional Court of Turkey|constitutional court]]<ref name=":12">{{Cite web|date=11 December 2009|title=Turkey: Kurdish Party Banned|url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2009/12/11/turkey-kurdish-party-banned|access-date=1 December 2021|website=[[Human Rights Watch]]|language=en}}</ref> which resulted in its closure on 11 December 2009.<ref name=":52">{{Cite news|last=Strittmatter|first=Kai|date=17 May 2010|title=Verfassungsgericht verbietet Kurdenpartei|url=https://www.sueddeutsche.de/politik/tuerkei-dtp-partei-verfassungsgericht-verbietet-kurdenpartei-1.134783|access-date=28 November 2021|website=[[Süddeutsche Zeitung]]|language=de}}</ref> In 2021, against the [[2021 Peoples' Democratic Party closure case|HDP was also initiated a closure case]] during which the HDP is accused of being linked to the PKK.<ref>{{Cite web|date=18 March 2021|title=Prosecutor's indictment notes no difference between HDP, PKK|url=https://www.dailysabah.com/politics/legislation/prosecutors-indictment-notes-no-difference-between-hdp-pkk|access-date=4 December 2021|website=[[Daily Sabah]]|language=en-US}}</ref> It is reported that Turkey has used the PKK as an excuse to close Kurdish political parties. Senior DTP leaders maintained that they support a unified Turkey within a democratic framework. In May 2007, the co-president of DTP [[Aysel Tuğluk]], published an article in ''[[Radikal]]'' in support of this policy.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.radikal.com.tr/ek_haber.php?ek=r2&haberno=7097|title=Sevr travması ve Kürtlerin empatisi|work=[[Radikal]]|date=27 May 2007|first=Aysel|last=Tuğluk|access-date=28 August 2008|language=tr|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090303182354/http://www.radikal.com.tr/ek_haber.php?ek=r2&haberno=7097|archive-date=3 March 2009}}</ref>

Several parliamentarians and other elected representatives have been jailed for speaking in Kurdish, carrying Kurdish colors or otherwise allegedly "promoting separatism", most famous among them being [[Leyla Zana]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.hurriyet.com.tr/gundem/6916207.asp?gid=180|title=Önderimiz 99'da İmralı'daydı|access-date=19 July 2007|language=tr|work=[[Hürriyet Daily News]]|quote="in 99 our leader <nowiki>[</nowiki>Abdullah Öcalan, leader of the PKK<nowiki>]</nowiki> was in [[İmralı]]" which led the crowd to chant "Long live Chairman Apo" ({{langx|ku-Latn|Bijî Serok Apo}}) the nickname of Öcalan.}}</ref> The [[European Court of Human Rights]] has condemned Turkey for arresting and executing Kurdish writers, journalists and politicians in numerous occasions. Between 1990 and 2006 Turkey was condemned to pay €33 million in damages in 567 cases. The majority of the cases were related to events that took place in southeastern Anatolia.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.todayszaman.com/newsDetail_getNewsById.action?load=detay&link=151355|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120606143652/http://www.todayszaman.com/newsDetail_getNewsById.action?load=detay&link=151355|url-status=dead|archive-date=6 June 2012|title=JİTEM's illegal actions cost Turkey a fortune|date=6 June 2012|access-date=27 December 2018}}</ref> In Iraq the political party Tevgera Azadî is said to have close to the PKK.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2018/12/turkey-iraqi-kurdistan-puk-puts-pressure-on-pkk.html|title=Iraqi Kurdish party pushes PKK aside|last=Bozarslan|first=Mahmut|date=8 December 2018|website=Al-Monitor|language=en|access-date=12 January 2019}}</ref>

===Reported links with Turkish intelligence===
During the controversial [[Ergenekon trials]] in Turkey, allegations have been made that the PKK was linked to elements of the Turkish intelligence community.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://mezopotamyaajansi35.com/tum-haberler/content/view/136361|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230716054728/http://mezopotamyaajansi35.com/tum-haberler/content/view/136361|url-status=dead|archive-date=16 July 2023|title=Ecevit Kılıç: Derin devleti var eden Kürt korkusudur|website=mezopotamyaajansi35.com}}</ref>

[[Şamil Tayyar]], author and member of the ruling [[Justice and Development Party (Turkey)|AK Party]], said that Öcalan was released in 1972 after just three months' detention on the initiative of the [[National Intelligence Organization (Turkey)|National Intelligence Organization]] (Millî İstihbarat Teşkilatı, MİT), and that his 1979 escape to Syria was aided by elements in MİT.<ref>[[Today's Zaman]], 18 October 2011, [http://todayszaman.com/news-260285-tayyars-new-book-reveals-pkks-ties-with-turkish-intelligence.html Tayyar's new book reveals PKK's ties with Turkish intelligence] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111019153652/http://www.todayszaman.com/news-260285-tayyars-new-book-reveals-pkks-ties-with-turkish-intelligence.html |date=19 October 2011 }}</ref> Öcalan has admitted making use of money given by the MIT to the PKK, which he says was provided as part of MIT efforts to control him.<ref>[[Today's Zaman]], 8 November 2008, [http://www.todayszaman.com/newsDetail_getNewsById.action?load=detay&link=158166 Tenth hearing of Ergenekon trial held yesterday] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150610203020/http://www.todayszaman.com/newsDetail_getNewsById.action?load=detay&link=158166|date=10 June 2015}}</ref>

Former police special forces member [[Ayhan Çarkın]] said that the state, using the clandestine [[Ergenekon (allegation)|Ergenekon network]], colluded with militant groups such as the PKK, [[Revolutionary People's Liberation Party/Front|Dev-Sol]] and [[Turkish Hezbollah]], with the goal of profiting from the war.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://arsiv.sabah.com.tr/2008/10/22/haber,3F335AA5F18446E4AB40F3A91AB3BB88.html|access-date=8 January 2009|title=Çarkın'ın itiraflarına soruşturma|date=22 October 2008|first=Ecevit|last=Kilic|work=Sabah|language=tr|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191106062246/http://arsiv.sabah.com.tr/2008/10/22/haber,3F335AA5F18446E4AB40F3A91AB3BB88.html|archive-date=6 November 2019|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The [[secret witness]] "First Step" testified that General [[Levent Ersöz]], former head of [[Gendarmerie Intelligence Organization|JITEM]], had frequent contact with PKK commander [[Cemîl Bayik]].<ref>[[Today's Zaman]], 22 August 2009, [http://www.todayszaman.com/news-184721-ersoz-and-pkks-bayik-kept-in-touch.html Ersöz and PKK's Bayık kept in touch] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140201214002/http://www.todayszaman.com/news-184721-ersoz-and-pkks-bayik-kept-in-touch.html|date=1 February 2014}}</ref>

== History ==
{{main|History of the Kurdistan Workers' Party}}

=== 1970s ===
[[File:Pkk_supporters_london_april_2003.jpg|left|thumb|PKK supporters at 2003 march opposing the [[Iraq War]], London]]
During the 1970s, the PKK was involved in [[History of the Kurdistan Workers' Party#Urban War (1978–1980)|urban warfare]]. PKK tactics were based on [[ambush]], [[sabotage]], riots, protests, and [[Demonstration (protest)|demonstrations]] against the Turkish government. During these years, the PKK also fought a turf war against Kurdish and Turkish radical Islamist organisations in Turkey. Turkish newspapers said that the PKK effectively used the prison force to appeal to the general population, which the PKK has denied. In Turkey, this period was characterized by violent clashes that culminated in the [[1980 Turkish coup d'état|1980 military coup]].

=== 1980s ===
The [[1980 Turkish coup d'état]] brought a difficult environment for the PKK, with members being executed, or being jailed. Other fled to Syria, where they were allowed to establish bases by [[Hafez al-Assad]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Tejel |first=Jordi |author-link=Jordi Tejel |date=2014 |title=Les paradoxes du printemps kurde en Syrie |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/24638616 |journal=Politique étrangère |volume=79 |issue=2 |page=54 |issn=0032-342X |jstor=24638616}}</ref> The PKK also managed to come to agreements with the [[Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine]] (DFLP),<ref>{{Cite book |last=Marcus |first=Aliza |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xlITCgAAQBAJ |title=Blood and Belief: The PKK and the Kurdish Fight for Independence |publisher=[[NYU Press]] |year=2012 |isbn=978-0814759561 |pages=55–57 |language=en}}</ref> the [[Fatah]] of [[Yasser Arafat|Yassir Arafat]] or the [[Palestinian Popular Struggle Front]] (PPSF) of [[Samir Ghawshah]]<ref name=":8">Marcus, Aliza (2012). p. 57</ref> and also with [[Masoud Barzani]]'s [[Kurdistan Democratic Party]] (KDP) in Iraqi Kurdistan<ref>Marcus, Aliza (2012). p. 70</ref> which would facilitate their activities.

In a second phase, 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 destabilize the Turkish authority through a long, low-intensity confrontation. The establishment of the Kurdistan Liberation Force (''Hêzên Rizgariya Kurdistan'' – HRK) was announced on 15 August 1984.<ref name=":1">{{cite book |last1=White |first1=Paul |title=The PKK |date=2015 |publisher=Zed Books |isbn=978-1783600373 |location=London |page=20}}</ref> From 1984, the PKK became a paramilitary group with training camps in [[Turkish Kurdistan]], [[Iraqi Kurdistan]], Syria, Lebanon and France. The PKK received significant support from the Syrian government, which allowed it to maintain headquarters in Damascus, as well as some support from the governments of Iran, Iraq, and Libya. It began to launch attacks and bombings against Turkish governmental installations, the military, and various institutions of the state. The organization focused on attacks against Turkish military targets, although civilian targets were also hit.<ref>{{cite news |last=Shaikh |first=Thair |date=23 May 2007 |title=PKK suicide bomb attack in Ankara |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/kurds-implicated-in-ankara-bomb-attack-449986.html |access-date=17 July 2011 |work=The Independent |location=London}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Paris'te Sabah'a PKK Saldırısı |url=http://www.sabah.com.tr/Gundem/2011/06/22/pariste-sabaha-pkk-saldirisi |access-date=17 July 2011 |newspaper=Sabah}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Satana |first1=N. S. |date=10 June 2017 |title=The Kurdish Issue in June 2011 Elections: Continuity or Change in Turkey's Democratization?: Turkish Studies: Vol 13, No 2 |journal=Turkish Studies |volume=13 |issue=2 |pages=169–189 |doi=10.1080/14683849.2012.686575 |s2cid=55920795 |hdl-access=free |hdl=11693/21264}}</ref>

In addition to skirmishing with Turkish military, police forces and local [[Village guard system|village guards]], the PKK has conducted bomb attacks on government and police installations.<ref>Matovic, Violeta, ''Suicide Bombers Who's Next'', Belgrade, The National Counter-Terrorism Committee, {{ISBN|978-8690830923}}</ref> [[Kidnapping]] and assassination against government and military officials and Kurdish tribal leaders who were named as puppets of the state were performed as well. Widespread acts of [[sabotage]] were continued from the first stage. Turkish sources had also stated that the PKK carried out kidnappings of tourists, primarily in [[Istanbul]], but also at different resorts. However, the PKK had in its history arrested 4 tourists and released them all after warning them to not enter the war zone. The vast majority of PKK's actions have taken place mainly in Turkey against the Turkish military, although it has on occasions co-operated with other Kurdish nationalist paramilitary groups in neighboring states, such as Iraq and Iran.<ref name="Cordesman1999">{{cite book |author=Cordesman, Anthony H. |url=https://archive.org/details/iraqwarofsanctio00cord |title=Iraq and the War of Sanctions: Conventional Threats and Weapons of Mass Destruction |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |year=1999 |isbn=0275965287}}</ref> The PKK has also attacked Turkish diplomatic and commercial facilities across Western Europe in the late 1980s. 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 [[Constitution of Turkey|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]]. The establishment of the Village Guards resulted into a change of policy by the PKK, who reorganized its military wing at the 3rd party congress in October 1986 and made the joining of its military wing the Kurdistan People's Liberation Force compulsory.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Gunes |first=Cengiz |title=The Kurdish National Movement in Turkey: From Protest to Resistance |date=2013 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-136-58798-6 |pages=104–105 |language=en}}</ref>

=== 1990s ===
From the mid-1990s, the organization began to lose [[History of the Kurdistan Workers' Party#Paramilitary II (1993–1995)|the upper hand in its operations]] as a consequence of a change of tactics by Turkey and Syria's steady abandonment of support for the group. The group also had lost its support from [[Saddam Hussein]].<ref>{{cite web |title=After Saddam Hussein – 92.12 |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/past/docs/unbound/flashbks/kurds/mylroie.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190118211814/https://www.theatlantic.com/past/docs/unbound/flashbks/kurds/mylroie.htm |archive-date=18 January 2019 |access-date=27 December 2018 |website=The Atlantic}}</ref> As during the international operation Poised Hammer the collaboration between Barzani and Turkey embittered, the situation for the PKK became even more difficult, with Barzani condemning terrorist attacks by the PKK during a Newroz festival.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Gunter |first=Michael M. |author-link=Michael Gunter |date=1993 |title=A de facto Kurdish State in Northern Iraq |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3992569 |journal=Third World Quarterly |volume=14 |issue=2 |page=303 |doi=10.1080/01436599308420326 |issn=0143-6597 |jstor=3992569|url-access=subscription }}</ref> At the same time, the Turkish government started to use more violent methods to counter Kurdish militants. After in 1992 a high-profile Turkish Delegation visited Damascus, the Syrian Government seemed to have ordered the closure of the PKK camp in the Bekaa valley and told the PKK to keep a low profile for some time.<ref>{{Cite web |last=van Bruinessen |first=Martin |date=25 February 2009 |title=Turkey, Europe and the Kurds after the capture of Abdullah Öcalan |url=http://www.let.uu.nl/~martin.vanbruinessen/personal/publications/Kurds_after_capture_Ocalan.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090225152612/http://www.let.uu.nl/~martin.vanbruinessen/personal/publications/Kurds_after_capture_Ocalan.pdf |archive-date=25 February 2009 |access-date=9 May 2023 |page=3}}</ref>

In March 1993 Öcalan, in presence of PUK leader [[Jalal Talabani]] declared a [[1993 Kurdistan Workers' Party ceasefire|unilateral ceasefire]] for a month in order to facilitate peace negotiations with Turkey. At an other press conference which took place on 16 April 1993 in [[Barelias|Bar Elias]], Lebanon, the ceasefire was prolonged indefinitely. To this event, the Kurdish politicians Jamal Talabani, [[Ahmet Türk]] from the [[People's Labor Party]] (HEP)  and also [[Kemal Burkay]] also attended and declared their support for the ceasefire.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Özcan |first=Ali Kemal |title=Turkey's Kurds: A Theoretical Analysis of the PKK and Abdullah Ocalan |publisher=Routledge |year=2006 |isbn=978-0415366878 |page=205 |language=en}}</ref> The ceasefire ended after the Turkish army killed 13 PKK members in [[Kulp, Turkey|Kulp]], [[Diyarbakır Province|Diyarbakir province]] in May 1993.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Gunes |first=Cengiz |title=The Kurdish National Movement in Turkey: From Protest to Resistance |publisher=Routledge |year=2013 |isbn=978-1136587986 |page=133 |language=en}}</ref>

The fighting and violence augmented significantly following the [[1993 Turkish presidential election|presidential elections of June 1993]] after which [[Tansu Çiller]] was elected prime minister.<ref name=":3">Gunes, Cengiz (2013), p. 134</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Randal |first=Jonathan C. |title=After Such Knowledge, what Forgiveness?: My Encounters with Kurdistan |date=1997 |publisher=Farrar, Straus and Giroux |isbn=978-0374102005 |pages=302–303 |language=en}}</ref> In December 1995 the PKK announced another unilateral ceasefire to give a new Government an opportunity to articulate a more peaceful approach towards the conflict. The government elected in December 1995 did not initiate negotiations and kept on evacuating Kurdish populated villages. Despite the violent approach of the Government to the ceasefire, it was upheld by the PKK until August 1996.<ref name=":3" /> Turkey was involved in serious human rights violations during the 1990s.

From 1996 to 1999, the organization began to use suicide bombers, VBIED, and ambush attacks against military and police bases. The role of suicide bombers, especially female ones were encouraged and mythologised by giving them the status of a "goddess of freedom", and shown as role models for other women after their death. On 30 July 1996, [[Zeynep Kınacı]], a female PKK fighter, carried out the organization's first suicide attack, killing 8 soldiers and injuring 29 others. The attacks against the civilians, especially the Kurdish citizens who refused to cooperate with them were also reported at the same years. On 20 January 1999, a report published by [[Human Rights Watch|HRW]], stated that the PKK was reported to have been responsible for more than 768 executions. The organization had also reportedly committed 25 massacres, killing more than 300 people. More than a hundred victims were children and women.<ref name="auto1">{{cite web |date=20 January 1999 |title=Rights Group Decries Missed Opportunity to Prosecute PKK Leader |url=https://www.hrw.org/news/1999/01/20/rights-group-decries-missed-opportunity-prosecute-pkk-leader |access-date=27 December 2018 |website=Human Rights Watch}}</ref><ref name="pape-2005">{{cite book |last1=Pape |first1=Robert |url=https://archive.org/details/dyingtowinstrate00pape |title=Dying to Win: The Strategic Logic of Suicide Terrorism |date=2005 |publisher=Random House |isbn=1588364607 |url-access=registration}}</ref><ref name="alakoc-2007">{{cite book |last1=Alakoc |first1=Burcu |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_IcZUMS_Y2kC&pg=PA4 |title=The Motivations of Female Suicide Bombers from a Communication Perspective |date=2007 |isbn=978-0549422532 |page=4}}{{Dead link|date=February 2023|bot=InternetArchiveBot|fix-attempted=yes}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Gunes |first1=Cengiz |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oVT7AAAAQBAJ&q=zilan+suicide+attack&pg=PT118 |title=The Kurdish Question in Turkey: New Perspectives on Violence, Representation and Reconciliation |last2=Zeydanlioglu |first2=Welat |publisher=Routledge |year=2013 |isbn=978-1135140717 |access-date=27 December 2018 |via=Google Books}}</ref>{{excessive citations inline|date=October 2024}}

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 and Turkish civilians who were against them, focusing instead on government and military targets.<ref name="miptpkkmain">{{cite web |title=Group Profile: Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) |url=http://www.tkb.org/Group.jsp?groupID=63 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080109074852/http://www.tkb.org/Group.jsp?groupID=63 |archive-date=9 January 2008 |access-date=17 April 2007 |work=[[MIPT Terrorism Knowledge Base]]}}</ref> In its campaign, the organization has been criticized of carrying out atrocities against both Turkish and Kurdish civilians and its actions have been criticised by human rights groups such as [[Amnesty International]]<ref>{{cite web |title=No Security Without Human Rights |url=http://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6a9ea0.html |access-date=26 September 2017 |publisher=Amnesty International}}</ref> and [[Human Rights Watch]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Turkey and War in Iraq: Avoiding Past Patterns of Violation |url=https://www.hrw.org/legacy/backgrounder/eca/turkey/turkey_violations.htm |access-date=26 September 2017 |website=Human Rights Watch}}</ref>  Similar actions of the Turkish state have also been criticized by these same groups. The ECHR has investigated Turkey for executions of Kurdish civilians, torturing, forced displacements and massive arrests.<ref>{{Cite web |last=de Graaf |first=Sophie |date=27 November 2020 |title=Joint statement concerning the killing of Tahir Elçi and lack of effective investigation into his death |url=https://lawyersforlawyers.org/en/joint-statement-concerning-the-killing-of-tahir-elci-and-lack-of-effective-investigation-into-his-death/ |access-date=9 May 2023 |website=Lawyers for Lawyers |language=nl}}</ref> In 1998 Turkey increased the pressure on Syria and ended its support for the PKK.<ref name="antiwar">{{cite news |last=Suri |first=Sanjay |author-link=Sanjay Suri |date=11 May 2005 |title=Torture and Oppression of Kurds in Syria |url=http://www.antiwar.com/ips/suri.php?articleid=5142 |publisher=antiwar.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Inside the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) |url=https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/inside-kurdistan-workers-party-pkk |access-date=27 December 2018 |website=Council on Foreign Relations}}</ref><ref>Marcus, Aliza (2012). p. 271</ref> The leader of the organization, Abdullah Öcalan, was captured, [[Trial of Abdullah Öcalan|prosecuted and sentenced to death]], but this was later commuted to life imprisonment as part of the government's seeking [[Accession of Turkey to the European Union|European Union membership]].<ref>[[UNESCO]]. 2002. "[http://portal.unesco.org/es/ev.php-URL_ID=6606&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html Death penalty abolished in Turkey] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090629011049/http://portal.unesco.org/es/ev.php-URL_ID%3D6606%26URL_DO%3DDO_TOPIC%26URL_SECTION%3D201.html|date=29 June 2009}}". The new Courier n°1.</ref>

=== 2000s ===
The [[European Court of Human Rights]] has condemned Turkey for human rights abuses during the conflict.<ref name="ETCHR1">{{cite news |title=European Court of Human Rights: Turkey Ranks First in Violations in between 1959–2011 |url=http://bianet.org/english/human-rights/138337-turkey-ranks-first-in-violations-in-between-1959-2011 |access-date=29 December 2015 |work=Bianet}}</ref><ref name="AnnualETCHR">{{cite report |url=http://echr.coe.int/Documents/Annual_Report_2014_ENG.pdf |title=Annual report |date=2014 |issue=The European Court of Human Rights |access-date=29 December 2015}}</ref> Some judgements are related to executions of Kurdish civilians,<ref name="hum1">{{cite report |url=http://hudoc.echr.coe.int/app/conversion/pdf/?library=ECHR&id=001-128036&filename=001-128036.pdf |title=The European Court of Human Rights: Case of Benzer and others v. Turkey |date=24 March 2014 |page=57 |access-date=29 December 2015}}</ref> torturing,<ref name="tort1">{{cite book |url=http://www.echr.coe.int/LibraryDocs/HR%20handbooks/handbook06_en.pdf |title=The prohibition of torture |date=2003 |pages=11, 13 |access-date=29 December 2015 |issue=Torturing}}</ref> forced displacements,<ref>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/humanrightswatch00huma_0 |title=Human Rights Watch |publisher=Human Rights Watch |year=1998 |isbn=978-1564321909 |page=[https://archive.org/details/humanrightswatch00huma_0/page/7 7] |url-access=registration}}</ref> destroyed villages,<ref>{{cite book |last1=McKiernan |first1=Kevin |url=https://archive.org/details/kurdspeopleinsea00mcki |title=The Kurds: a people in search of their homeland |date=2006 |publisher=St. Martin's Press |isbn=0312325460 |edition=1st |location=New York |page=[https://archive.org/details/kurdspeopleinsea00mcki/page/130 130] |url-access=registration}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Neuberger |first1=Benyamin |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=caCDBAAAQBAJ |title=Kurdish awakening : nation building in a fragmented homeland |date=2014 |publisher=Univ of Texas Press |isbn=978-0292758131 |editor1-last=Bengio |editor1-first=Ofra |location=[S.l.] |page=27}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Gunes |first1=Cengiz |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UVn7AAAAQBAJ |title=The Kurdish question in Turkey : new perspectives on violence, representation, and reconciliation |last2=Zeydanlioğlu |first2=Welat |date=2014 |publisher=Taylor and Francis |isbn=978-1135140632 |location=Hoboken |page=98}}</ref> [[Arbitrary arrest and detention|arbitrary arrests]],<ref>{{cite journal |title=Police arrest and assistance of a lawyer |url=http://www.echr.coe.int/Documents/FS_Police_arrest_ENG.pdf |website=Echr.coe.int}}</ref> murdered and disappeared Kurdish journalists, activists and politicians.<ref>{{cite news |title=Justice Comes from European Court for a Kurdish Journalist |url=http://www.khrp.org/khrp-news/news-archive/2000-news/189-justice-comes-from-european-court-for-a-murdered-kurdish-journalist.html |access-date=1 January 2016 |website=Khrp.org}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Whitman |first1=Lois |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Pyz9fz6il38C |title=The Kurds of Turkey: killings, disappearances and torture |date=1993 |publisher=Human Rights Watch |isbn=1564320960 |editor1-last=Laber |editor1-first=Jeri |location=New York}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Panico |first1=Christopher |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TqXjX8ZSH6kC |title=Turkey : violations of free expression in Turkey. |date=1999 |publisher=Human Rights Watch |isbn=1564322262 |location=New York |pages=37–38}}</ref> As a result of increasing Kurdish population and activism, the Turkish parliament began a controlled process of dismantling some anti-Kurdish legislation, using the term "normalization" or "rapprochement", depending on the sides of the issue. It partially relaxed the bans on broadcasting and publishing in the [[Kurdish languages|Kurdish language]], although significant barriers remain.<ref name="Ibrahim2000">{{cite book |author=Ferhad Ibrahim, Gülistan Gürbey |url=https://archive.org/details/kurdishconflicti0000unse |title=The Kurdish Conflict in Turkey: Obstacles and Chances for Peace and Democracy |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |year=2000 |isbn=0312236298 |url-access=registration}}{{Page needed|date=September 2010}}</ref> At the same time, the PKK was blacklisted in many countries. On 2 April 2004, the [[Council of the European Union]] added the PKK to its list of terrorist organizations. Later that year, the [[United States Department of the Treasury|US Treasury]] moved to freeze assets of branches of the organization. The PKK went through a series of changes, and in 2003 it ended the unilateral truce declared when Öcalan was captured.<ref>{{cite news |date=2 September 2003 |title=Kurdish rebels abandon truce |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/3200907.stm |access-date=1 September 2007 |publisher=BBC}}</ref>

==== Cease fire 1999–2004 ====
The third phase (1999–2012), after the capture of Öcalan, PKK reorganized itself and new leaders were chosen by its members. The organization made radical changes to survive, such as changing its ideology and setting new goals. During the 7th Party congress in January 2000, the former military wing the Peoples Liberation Army of Kurdistan (''Artêşa Rizgariya Gelê Kurdistan'' – ARGK) was succeeded by the People's Defense Forces (''[[People's Defence Forces|Hêzên Parastina Gel]] –''  HPG) and also declared that it wanted to aim for a democratic solution for the conflict.<ref name=":2">{{cite book |last1=White |first1=Paul |title=The PKK |date=2015 |publisher=Zed Books |isbn=978-1783600373 |location=London |page=19}}</ref> At the same time, the PKK continued to recruit new members and sustain its fighting force.

According to Paul White, in April 2002, the PKK changed its name to the ''Kurdistan Freedom and Democracy Congress (KADEK)'' and proclaimed a commitment to nonviolent activities.<ref name=":2" /> A PKK/KADEK spokesman stated that its armed wing, the HPG, would not disband or surrender its weapons for reasons of self-defense. This statement by the PKK/KADEK avowing it would not lay down its arms underscores that the organization maintained its capability to carry out armed operations. PKK/KADEK established a new ruling council in April, its membership virtually identical to the PKK's Presidential Council. The PKK/KADEK did not conduct an armed attack in 2002; however, the group periodically issued veiled threats that it will resume violence if the conditions of its imprisoned leader are not improved and its forces are attacked by Turkish military, and it continued its military training like before.

In November 2003, another congress was held which lead to renaming itself as the ''People's Congress of Kurdistan'' or ''Kongra-Gel (KGK)''. The stated purpose of the organizational change was to leave behind nationalistic and state-building goals, in favor of creating a political structure to work within the existing nation-states.<ref name="PKK in the 2000s p149">{{cite book |last1=Akkaya |first1=Ahmet Hamdi |title=Nationalisms and Politics in Turkey: Political Islam, Kemalism and the Kurdish Issue |last2=Jongerden |first2=Joost |date=2010 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1136938672 |editor1-last=Casier |editor1-first=Marlies |page=149 |chapter=The PKK in the 2000s: Continuity through Breaks? |editor2-last=Jongerden |editor2-first=Joost}}</ref> Through further internal conflict during this period, it is reported that 1500 militants left the organization,<ref name="PKK in the 2000s p149" /> along with many of the leading reformists, including [[Nizamettin Taş]] and [[Abdullah Öcalan]]'s younger brother [[Osman Öcalan]].<ref name="Cemil Bayik">{{Cite web |last=Uslu |first=Emrullah |date=20 May 2008 |title=Leading PKK Commander Cemil Bayik Crosses into Iran |url=https://jamestown.org/program/leading-pkk-commander-cemil-bayik-crosses-into-iran/ |access-date=16 March 2021 |website=Jamestown |language=en-US}}</ref>

==== Second insurgency 2004–2006 ====
Kongra-Gel called off the cease-fire at the start of June 2004, saying Turkish security forces had refused to respect the truce. Turkish security forces were increasingly involved in clashes with Kurdish separatist fighters. Ankara stated that about 2,000 Kurdish fighters had crossed into Turkey from hideouts in mountainous northern Iraq in early June 2004.

While the fight against the Turkish security forces between 2004 and 2010 continued, the PKK and its ancillary organizations continued to enjoy substantial support among the Kurds of Turkey. In 2005, the original name of the organization ''PKK'' was restored, while the Kongra-Gel became the legislature of the Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK).<ref>[http://www.kurdishaspect.com/doc042910ZA.html Zübeyir Aydar: 'Military operations are going to begin'] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110103184948/http://kurdishaspect.com/doc042910ZA.html|date=3 January 2011}}; Interview in English dated 29 April 2010. In this interview Zübeyir Aydar stated: "''KCK has an assembly. This assembly is Kongra-Gel. Furthermore, within Kongra-Gel there's an elected executive council... The PKK is a limited segment within the movement which is given the name KCK. Abdullah Öcalan takes the highest position. After that there's the Assembly, and following that the Executive Council. The chairman of the 31-member Executive Council is Murat Karayılan''."</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Gunter. |first1=Michael M. |title=Kongra-Gel |url=http://kurds_history.enacademic.com/300/Kongra-Gel |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171002223146/http://kurds_history.enacademic.com/300/Kongra-Gel |archive-date=2 October 2017 |access-date=23 May 2019 |website=Historical Dictionary of the Kurds |publisher=Academic Dictionaries and Encyclopedias}}</ref> Turkey's struggle against the Kongra-Gel/PKK was marked by increased clashes across Turkey in 2005. In the southeast, Turkish security forces were active in the struggle against the Kongra-Gel/PKK. There were bombings and attempted bombings in resort areas in western Turkey and Istanbul, some of which resulted in civilian casualties. A radical Kurdish separatist group calling itself the [[Kurdistan Freedom Hawks|Kurdish Freedom Hawks (TAK)]] claimed responsibility for many of these attacks. The TAK is a rival to PKK that since 2006 repeatedly damaged the PKK's efforts to negotiate cease-fires and unlike the PKK, is seeking to establish independent Kurdistan.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Brandon |first1=James |title=The Kurdistan Freedom Falcons Emerges as a Rival to the PKK |url=http://www.jamestown.org/single/?no_cache=1&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=936#.Vuqn8-LhDn4 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101225075250/http://www.jamestown.org/single/?no_cache=1&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=936#.Vuqn8-LhDn4 |archive-date=25 December 2010 |access-date=17 March 2016 |website=The Jamestown foundation}}</ref> In 2006 alone, the PKK claimed over 500 victims. On 1 October 2006, the PKK reportedly declared a unilateral cease-fire<ref>{{cite book |last=White |first=Paul |title=The PKK: Coming Down from the Mountains |publisher=Zed Books Ltd. |year=2015 |isbn=978-1783600403 |page=47 |language=en}}</ref> that slowed the intensity and pace of its attacks, but attacks continued in response to Turkish security forces significant counterinsurgency operations, especially in the southeast.

==== Cease-fire and renewed conflict ====
On 13 April 2009, the [[2009–2010 Kurdistan Workers' Party ceasefire|PKK declared a cease fire]] after the DTP won 99 municipalities and negotiations were spoken about. The AKP first spoke of the [[Democratic initiative#Kurdish initiative|"Kurdish Opening"]], then it was renamed in the "Democratic Opening" to appease nationalist interests and then the "National Unity Project".<ref>{{cite book |last=White |first=Doctor Paul |title=The PKK: Coming Down from the Mountains |publisher=Zed Books Ltd. |year=2015 |isbn=978-1783600403 |pages=50–51 |language=en}}</ref>

On 21 October 2011 Iranian foreign minister [[Ali Akbar Salehi]] announced Iran would co-operate with Turkey in some military operations against the PKK.<ref>{{cite web |date=20 October 2011 |title=Turkey, Iran to Cooperate Against Kurdish Rebels |url=https://www.voanews.com/a/turkey-iran-to-cooperate-against-kurdish-rebels-132316303/170915.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120131194726/http://www.voanews.com/english/news/europe/Turkey-Iran-to-Cooperate-Against-Kurdish-Rebels-132316303.html |archive-date=31 January 2012 |access-date=10 December 2012 |publisher=Voice of America}}</ref>

2012 was the most violent year in the armed conflict between the Turkish State and PKK since 1999. At least 541 individuals lost their lives as a result of the clashes including 316 militants and 282 soldiers. In contrast, 152 individuals lost their lives in 2009 until the Turkish government initiated negotiations with the PKK leadership.<ref>Güneş Murat Tezcür,"[http://www.luc.edu/faculty/gtezcur/files/TezcurInsightTurkey.pdf Prospects for Resolution of the Kurdish Question: A Realist Perspective], {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131016083217/http://www.luc.edu/faculty/gtezcur/files/TezcurInsightTurkey.pdf|date=16 October 2013}}" Insight Turkey 15 (Spring 2013): 69–84.</ref> The failure of this negotiations contributed to violence that were particularly intensified in 2012. The PKK encouraged by the rising power of the Syrian Kurds increased its attacks in the same year.

During the [[Syrian Civil War]], the Kurds in Syria have established control over their own region with the help of the PKK as well as with support from the Kurdistan Regional Government in [[Erbil]], under President Masoud Barzani.<ref name="Kurd-Shiite-Sunni-Split">{{cite web |last=Salem |first=Paul |date=29 November 2012 |title=Insight: Iraq's Tensions Heightened by Syria Conflict |url=http://middleeastvoices.voanews.com/2012/11/insight-iraqs-tensions-heightened-by-syria-conflict-96791/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130619200757/http://middleeastvoices.voanews.com/2012/11/insight-iraqs-tensions-heightened-by-syria-conflict-96791/ |archive-date=19 June 2013 |access-date=3 November 2012 |publisher=Middle East Voices}}</ref>

=== 2010s–2020s ===

==== 2013–2015 peace process ====
{{main|Kurdish–Turkish peace process}}
In late 2012, the Turkish government began secret talks with Öcalan for a [[2013–2015 PKK–Turkey peace process|ceasefire]].<ref name="Peace">{{cite news |date=9 May 2013 |title=Peace at the end of a long PKK struggle? |url=http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/insidestory/2013/05/20135985316524633.html |access-date=10 May 2013 |publisher=Al Jazeera}}</ref> To facilitate talks, government officials transmitted letters between Öcalan in jail to PKK leaders in northern Iraq.<ref>{{cite web |title=Planned PKK pullout heats up Turkey politics |url=http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2013/05/201357182319457288.html |access-date=25 June 2015}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Uras |first=Umut |date=8 May 2013 |title=Turkey's pullout politics |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2013/5/8/planned-pkk-pullout-heats-up-turkey-politics |access-date=13 June 2021 |website=www.aljazeera.com |publisher=[[Al Jazeera Arabic|Al Jazeera]] |language=en}}</ref> On 21 March 2013, a ceasefire was announced.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Letsch |first=Constanze |date=7 May 2013 |title=Kurds dare to hope as PKK fighters' ceasefire with Turkey takes hold |url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/may/07/kurds-pkk-turkey-peace-talks |access-date=13 June 2021 |website=[[The Guardian]] |language=en}}</ref> On 25 April, it was announced that the PKK would leave Turkey. Commander [[Murat Karayılan]] remarked "As part of ongoing preparations, the withdrawal will begin on May 8, 2013. Our forces will use their right to retaliate in the event of an attack, operation or bombing against our withdrawing guerrilla forces and the withdrawal will immediately stop."<ref>{{cite web |title=PKK sets date for withdrawal from Turkey |url=http://www.aljazeera.com/news/europe/2013/04/201342513922579836.html |access-date=13 June 2021 |website=[[Al Jazeera Arabic|Al Jazeera]]}}</ref> The semi-autonomous Kurdish region of Iraq welcomed the idea of refugees from its northern neighbor.<ref name="Baghdad">{{cite news |date=9 May 2013 |title=Baghdad opposes PKK armed groups in Iraq |url=http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2013/05/201359133815629930.html |access-date=10 May 2013 |publisher=[[Al Jazeera Arabic|Al Jazeera]]}}</ref> The BDP held meetings across the region to state the pending withdrawal to concerned citizens. "The 8th of May is a day we both anticipate and fear," said party leader Pinar Yilmaz. "We don't trust the government at all. Many people here are afraid that once the guerrillas are gone, the Turkish military will crack down on us again."<ref name="dare">{{cite news |last=Letsch |first=Constanze |date=7 May 2013 |title=Kurds dare to hope as PKK fighters' ceasefire with Turkey takes hold |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/may/07/kurds-pkk-turkey-peace-talks |access-date=10 May 2013 |work=[[The Guardian]]}}</ref>

The withdrawal began as planned with groups of fighters crossing the border from southeastern Turkey to northern Iraq.<ref name="Peace" /> Iraqi leadership in Baghdad, however, declared that it would not accept armed groups into its territory. "The Iraqi government welcomes any political and peaceful settlement", read an official statement. "[But] it does not accept the entry of armed groups to its territories that can be used to harm Iraq's security and stability."<ref name="Baghdad" /> The prospect of armed Kurdish forces in northern Iraq threatens to increase tensions between the region and Baghdad who are already at odds over certain oil producing territory. PKK spokesman Ahmet Deniz sought to ease concerns stating the plan would boost democracy. "The [peace] process is not aimed against anyone," he said "and there is no need for concerns that the struggle will take on another format and pose a threat to others."<ref name="Baghdad" />

It is estimated that between 1,500 and 2,000 PKK fighters resided in Turkey at the time.{{citation needed|date=September 2015}} The withdrawal process was expected to take several months even if Iraq does not intervene to try to stop it.<ref name="Baghdad" /> On 14 May 2013, the first groups of 13 male and female fighters entered Iraq's Heror area near the Metina mountain after leaving Turkey. They carried with them Kalashnikov assault rifles, light machine guns and rocket-propelled grenade launchers before a welcoming ceremony.<ref>[http://www.aljazeera.com/news/europe/2013/05/20135147251149191.html PKK fighters arrive in Iraq under peace deal – Middle East]. Al Jazeera. Retrieved 15 July 2013.</ref>

On 29 July 2013, the PKK issued an ultimatum in saying that the peace deal would fail if reforms were not begun to be implemented within a month.<ref>{{cite web |title=PKK sets ultimatum for Turkey peace deal – Europe |url=http://www.aljazeera.com/video/europe/2013/07/20137291195529967.html |access-date=14 August 2014 |publisher=Al Jazeera}}</ref> In October, Cemil Bayik warned that unless Turkey resumed the peace process, the PKK would resume operations to defend itself against it. He also criticized Turkey of waging a proxy war against Kurds during the [[Syrian Civil War]] by supporting other extremist rebels who were [[Rojava conflict|fighting them]].<ref>{{cite web |title=PKK threatens to renew fight in Turkey – Europe |url=http://www.aljazeera.com/news/europe/2013/10/pkk-threatens-renew-fight-turkey-201310226444407255.html |access-date=14 August 2014 |publisher=Al Jazeera}}</ref> As part of the civil war, many PKK fighters laid down arms in Turkey and moved to Syria, facilitating the creation of a [[Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria|progressive Kurdish government in Rojava]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Americans Shouldn't Accept Erdogan's Cynical Stance on the PKK |url=https://www.aei.org/op-eds/americans-shouldnt-accept-erdogans-cynical-stance-on-the-pkk/ |work=American Enterprise Institute – AEI}}</ref>

Iraqi Kurdistan President Masoud Barzani backed the initiative saying, alongside Erdogan: "This is a historic visit for me ... We all know it would have been impossible to speak here 15 or 20 years ago. Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan has taken a very brave step towards peace. I want my Kurdish and Turkish brothers to support the peace process."<ref>{{cite web |title=Iraq's Kurdistan backs Turkey peace efforts – Middle East |url=http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2013/11/iraq-kurdistan-backs-turkey-peace-efforts-201311161740245104.html |access-date=14 August 2014 |publisher=Al Jazeera}}</ref>

==== 2014 action against Islamic State and renewed tensions in Turkey ====
{{main|2014 Kobanî protests}}
[[File:Kurdish_PKK_guerilla.jpg|thumb|220x220px|A Kurdish PKK guerrilla in 2014.]]
The PKK engaged the [[Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant]] (ISIL) forces in Syria in mid-July 2014<ref>{{cite web |date=15 July 2014 |title=PKK joins battle against Isil |url=http://gulfnews.com/news/region/syria/pkk-joins-battle-against-isil-1.1360183 |access-date=14 August 2014 |work=Gulf News}}</ref> as part of the Syrian Civil War. In August the PKK engaged IS in Northern Iraq and pressured the Government of Turkey to take a stand against IS.<ref>{{cite web |author=Dorian Jones |date=25 July 2014 |title=Turkish Kurds Want Ankara to Declare Stance on ISIL |url=https://www.voanews.com/a/turkish-kurds-want-ankara-to-declare-stance-on-isil/1965256.html |access-date=14 August 2014 |publisher=Voice of America}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=13 September 2011 |title=Forming the anti-ISIL Front – VERDA ÖZER |url=http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/forming-the-anti-isil-front.aspx?PageID=238&NID=70169&NewsCatID=466 |access-date=14 August 2014 |work=Hürriyet Daily News}}</ref> PKK forces helped tens of thousands of [[Yazidis]] escape an encircled [[Sinjar Mountains|Mount Sinjar]].<ref>{{cite web |author=Joe Parkinson |date=18 August 2014 |title=Iraq Crisis: Kurds Push to Take Mosul Dam as U.S. Gains Controversial Guerrilla Ally |url=https://online.wsj.com/articles/kurds-with-u-s-aid-push-to-take-mosul-dam-1408322338 |access-date=21 August 2014 |work=The Wall Street Journal}}</ref> In September 2014, during the [[Siege of Kobanî]], some PKK fighters engaged with [[Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant|Islamic State]] forces in Syria who were attacking Kurdish city Kobane, which resulted in conflicts with Turks on the border and an end to a cease-fire that had been in place over a year.<ref>{{cite web |title=Kurdish militants claim deadly ambush in Turkey's southeast |url=http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/kurdish-militants-claim-deadly-ambush-turkeys-southeast-1343877279#comment-1276 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141111215037/http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/kurdish-militants-claim-deadly-ambush-turkeys-southeast-1343877279#comment-1276 |archive-date=11 November 2014 |access-date=25 June 2015 |work=Middle East Eye}}</ref> The PKK said Turkey was supporting ISIS. The PKK participated in many offensives against ISIS in Iraq and Syria.<ref name="AJA-6-2015">{{cite news |date=11 June 2015 |title=Exclusive: Inside the PKK's front-line fight against ISIL |url=http://america.aljazeera.com/watch/shows/america-tonight/articles/2015/6/11/isis-pkk-sinjar.html |access-date=11 June 2015 |publisher=Al Jazeera}}</ref>
[[File:Kurdish_newroz.jpg|thumb|Mass demonstration for the PKK and freedom of [[Abdullah Ocalan]] in the Turkish city of [[Van, Turkey|Van]] during [[Newroz]]]]
A number of Turkish Kurds rallied in large-scale street protests, demanding that the government in Ankara take more forceful action to combat IS and to enable Kurdish militants already engaged against IS to more freely move and resupply. These protests included a PKK call for its supporters to turn out.<ref>{{cite news |date=7 October 2014 |title=Kurds protest against Turkey as IS advances on Kobane |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-29518448 |access-date=14 October 2014 |work=BBC News}}</ref> Clashes between police and protesters killed at least 31 people. The Turkish government continued to restrict PKK-associated fighters' movement across its borders, arresting 260 [[People's Protection Units]] fighters who were moving back into Turkey. On 14 October, Turkish Air Force fighter-bombers attacked PKK positions in the vicinity of Daglica, Hakkari Province.<ref>{{cite news |date=14 October 2014 |title=Turkish jets bomb Kurdish PKK rebels near Iraq |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-29611582 |access-date=14 October 2014 |work=BBC News}}</ref>

Turkish military statements stated that the bombings were in response to PKK attacks on a Turkish military outpost in the area. The Firat news agency, which Al Jazeera describes as "close to the PKK", stated that Turkish forces had been shelling the PKK positions for days beforehand and that the PKK action had itself been retaliation for those artillery strikes.<ref>{{cite news |date=14 October 2014 |title=Turkey bombs Kurdish PKK targets in south |url=http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2014/10/turkish-jets-bomb-pkk-targets-southeast-2014101492853176434.html |access-date=14 October 2014 |publisher=Al Jazeera}}</ref> The PKK had already reported several Turkish attacks against their troops months before Turkish bombing started.

==== July 2015 – March 2025: Third insurgency ====
{{main|Timeline of the Kurdistan Workers' Party insurgency (2015–2025)}}
{{multiple image
| align             = right
| direction         = vertical
| header            = YBS and PKK guerrillas
| width             = 200
| image1            = Yezidi YBŞ Fighters (37813092875).jpg
| alt1              = 
| image2            = Kurdish_PKK_Guerillas_(11945682954).jpg
| footer            = [[YBŞ]] and PKK guerillas in [[Northern Kurdistan|Northern]] and [[Southern Kurdistan]] in 2017
}}
In the months before the parliamentary election of 2015, as the "Kurdish-focused" HDP's likelihood of crossing the 10% threshold for entry into the government seemed more likely, Erdogan gave speeches and made comments that repudiated the settlement process and the existence of a Kurdish problem and refusing to recognize the HDP as having any role to play despite their long participation as intermediaries.<ref>{{cite web |last=Tastekin |first=Fehim |date=6 May 2015 |title=Will Erdogan's backtracking torpedo PKK disarmament? – Al-Monitor: the Pulse of the Middle East |url=http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2015/05/turkey-kurds-pkk-no-farewell-to-arms.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303085346/http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2015/05/turkey-kurds-pkk-no-farewell-to-arms.html |archive-date=3 March 2016 |work=[[Al-Monitor]]}}</ref> These announcements increased distrust of the government's good faith among Kurdish leaders. In July 2015, Turkey finally became involved in the war against ISIL. While they were doing so, they decided to bomb PKK targets in Iraq.<ref>{{cite web |date=26 July 2015 |title=Turkey, US to create 'ISIL-free zone' inside Syria – DIPLOMACY |url=http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkey-us-to-create-isil-free-zone-inside-syria.aspx?pageID=238&nID=85906&NewsCatID=510 |website=Hurriyetdailynews.com}}</ref> The bombings came a few days after PKK was suspected of assassinating two Turkish police officers in [[Ceylanpınar]], [[Urfa|Şanlıurfa]], criticized by the PKK of having links with ISIS after the [[2015 Suruç bombing]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Kurdish group claims 'revenge murder' on Turkish police |url=http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/07/kurdish-group-claims-revenge-murder-turkish-police-150722132945249.html |publisher=Al Jazeera |quote=The armed wing of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) has claimed responsibility for killing two Turkish police officers, saying the murders were reprisals for a suicide attack in the border town of Suruc. 'A punitive action was carried out... in revenge for the massacre in Suruc,' the People's Defence Forces (HPG) said in a statement on its website on Wednesday, accusing the two officers of cooperating with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). The two police officers were found shot dead at their home in the town of Ceylanpinar on the border with Syria, two days after the Suruc suicide attack that killed 32 people, mostly ethnic Kurds.}}</ref><ref name="capelouto-tuysuz-cnn-2015">{{cite news |last1=Capelouto |first1=Susanna |last2=Tuysuz |first2=Gul |date=25 July 2015 |title=Turkey arrests hundreds of suspected terrorists, Prime Minister says |url=http://www.cnn.com/2015/07/25/middleeast/turkey-syria-isis-attacks/index.html |work=CNN |quote='We will not stay silent in the face of those who kill our police officers in their sleep,' Davutoglu said, referring to PKK's assassination of two Turkish police officers Wednesday. [...] The statement also referred to the slaying of the two police officers, calling it an act of "retribution" carried out by "local branches" without orders from central PKK command.}}</ref> The PKK has blamed Turkey for breaking the truce by bombing the PKK in 2014 and 2015 continuously.{{citation needed|date=December 2021}}

In August 2015, the PKK announced that they would accept another ceasefire with Turkey only under [[United States|US]] guarantees.<ref>{{cite news |title=PKK urges US to mediate in its war with Turkey and admits to secret talks with Washington |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/turkey/11806481/PKK-urges-US-to-mediate-in-its-war-with-Turkey-and-admits-to-secret-talks-with-Washington.html |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220111/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/turkey/11806481/PKK-urges-US-to-mediate-in-its-war-with-Turkey-and-admits-to-secret-talks-with-Washington.html |archive-date=11 January 2022 |access-date=1 January 2016 |work=The Daily Telegraph}}{{cbignore}}</ref> The leadership of Iraqi Kurdistan has condemned the Turkish airstrikes in its autonomous region in the north of Iraq.<ref>{{cite web |title=Iraq Kurds condemn Turkish airstrikes on PKK – Al-Monitor: the Pulse of the Middle East |url=http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/contents/afp/2015/07/turkey-syria-attacks-army-iraq-kurds.html |work=Al-Monitor}}{{dead link|date=December 2017|bot=InternetArchiveBot|fix-attempted=yes}}</ref>

The number of casualties since 23 July was stated by Turkish government to be 150 Turkish officers and over 2,000 Kurdish rebels killed (by September).<ref>{{cite web |date=29 September 2015 |title=Scores killed in clashes between Turkish forces and Kurdish rebels |url=http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2015/9/29/scores-killed-in-clashes-between-turkish-forces-and-kurdish-rebels.html |publisher=[[Al Jazeera Arabic|Al Jazeera]]}}</ref> In December 2015, Turkish military operation in southeastern Turkey has killed hundreds of civilians, displaced hundreds of thousands and caused massive destruction in residential areas.<ref>{{cite web |date=30 December 2015 |title=Turkey's Campaign Against Kurdish Militants Takes Toll on Civilians |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/31/world/europe/turkey-kurds-pkk.html?hpw&rref=world&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=well-region&region=bottom-well&WT.nav=bottom-well&_r=0 |work=The New York Times}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=22 December 2015 |title=Turkey: Mounting Security Operation Deaths |url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2015/12/22/turkey-mounting-security-operation-deaths |work=Human Rights Watch}}</ref>

In March 2016, the PKK helped to launch the [[Peoples' United Revolutionary Movement]] with nine other Kurdish and Turkish revolutionary leftist, socialist and communist groups (including the [[Communist Party of Turkey/Marxist–Leninist|TKP/ML]], [[Marxist–Leninist Armed Propaganda Unit|THKP-C/MLSPB]], [[Maoist Communist Party (Turkey)|MKP]], [[Communist Labour Party of Turkey/Leninist|TKEP/L]], [[Union of Revolutionary Communists of Turkey|TİKB]], [[Revolutionary Communard Party|DKP]], [[Devrimci Karargâh|DK]] and [[Marxist–Leninist Communist Party (Turkey)|MLKP]]) with the aim of overthrowing the Turkish government of [[Recep Tayyip Erdoğan]].<ref name="anfenglish.com">{{cite web |date=12 March 2016 |title=Peoples' United Revolutionary Movement established for a joint struggle |url=http://www.anfenglish.com/news/peoples-united-revolutionary-movement-established-for-a-joint-struggle |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160314061916/http://www.anfenglish.com/news/peoples-united-revolutionary-movement-established-for-a-joint-struggle |archive-date=14 March 2016 |access-date=14 March 2016 |agency=Firat News Agency}}</ref>

In November 2022, an [[2022 Istanbul bombing|explosion]] took place on [[İstiklal Avenue]] in [[Istanbul]]'s [[Beyoğlu]] district that left at least six people dead and 81 injured. [[Ministry of Interior (Turkey)|Minister of Interior]] [[Süleyman Soylu]] formally accused the PKK of being behind the attack and announced the arrest of the bomber who had alleged links to the organization and twenty-one others.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Istanbul Attack: Suspect Arrested After Six People Killed, Govt Says PKK Responsible |url=https://thewire.in/world/istanbul-attack-suspect-arrested-after-six-people-killed-govt-says-pkk-responsible |access-date=15 November 2022 |website=The Wire}}</ref>
[[File:2022_Gaziantep_attack_(1).jpg|right|thumb|The school after the 2022 Gaziantep attack]]
On <span class="anchor" id="2022_Gaziantep_attack">21 November 2022</span>,<ref>{{Cite news |title=21 kasım 2022 gaziantep roket saldırısı |url=https://eksisozluk.com/21-kasim-2022-gaziantep-roket-saldirisi--7474949 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221121113319/https://eksisozluk.com/21-kasim-2022-gaziantep-roket-saldirisi--7474949 |archive-date=21 November 2022 |access-date=8 March 2025 |work=ekşi sözlük |language=tr-TR}}</ref> at approximately 11:00 [[Time in Turkey|TSI]], a [[Mortar (weapon)|mortar]] attack targeted a [[school]], two houses, and a truck in the Karkamış district of [[Gaziantep]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=GAZİANTEP KARKAMIŞ'A ROKET SALDIRISI! |url=https://m.haberair.com/default.asp?page=haber&haberid=62848 |access-date=8 March 2025 |website=www.haberair.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=21 November 2022 |title=Gaziantep'e roket saldırısı: 3 kişi hayatını kaybetti |url=https://www.siyasetcafe.com/gaziantepe-roket-saldirisi-3-kisi-hayatini-kaybetti-96521h.htm}}</ref> The [[assault]] claimed the lives of a 5-year-old boy and a 22-year-old woman,<ref>{{Cite web |date=21 November 2022 |title=Soylu: Karkamış'ta 2 kişi öldü, 10 kişi yaralandı |url=https://yetkinreport.com/2022/11/21/gaziantep-valisi-karkamisa-roket-atildi-2-kisi-hayatini-kaybetti/ |access-date=8 March 2025 |website=Yetkin Report |language=tr}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=21 November 2022 |title=Gaziantep'in Karkamış İlçesine Roket Saldırısı |url=https://www.voaturkce.com/a/gaziantepin-karkamisa-roket-saldirisi-3-olu/6843300.html}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=21 November 2022 |title=Gaziantep'in Karkamış İlçesine Roket Saldırısı |url=https://www.voaturkce.com/a/gaziantepin-karkamis-ilcesine-roket-saldirisi/6843346.html}}</ref> while 6–10 individuals sustained injuries.<ref>{{Cite web |date=21 November 2022 |title=Gaziantep'in Karkamış İlçesine Roket Saldırısı: Bir Çocuk ve Bir Öğretmen Hayatını Kaybetti |url=https://www.voaturkce.com/a/gaziantep-karkamis-ilcesine-roket-saldirisi-bir-cocuk-ve-bir-ogretmen-hayatini-kaybetti/6843675.html |access-date=8 March 2025 |website=www.voaturkce.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=21 November 2022 |title=Gaziantep Karkamış'a roket saldırısı: Biri çocuk üç kişi yaşamını yitirdi |url=https://yesilgazete.org/gaziantep-karkamisa-roket-saldirisi-biri-cocuk-uc-kisi-yasamini-yitirdi/amp/}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=21 November 2022 |title=YPG Gaziantep'e roket saldırısı düzenledi: 3 kişi hayatını kaybetti |url=https://www.mepanews.com/ypg-gaziantepe-roket-saldirisi-duzenledi-3-kisi-hayatini-kaybetti-56529h.htm}}</ref>

In October 2024, the PKK claimed responsibility<ref>{{Cite web |title=Kurdistan Workers' Party claims deadly Ankara attack – DW – 10/25/2024 |url=https://www.dw.com/en/kurdistan-workers-party-claims-deadly-ankara-attack/a-70598114 |access-date=27 October 2024 |website=dw.com |language=en}}</ref> for a deadly attack on [[Turkish Aerospace Industries]] (TUSAŞ) headquarters, resulting in 5 deaths, including four civilians, and 22 injuries. Following this attack, the Turkish air force conducted airstrikes targeting positions of the PKK in northern Syria and Iraq. The Turkish defense ministry reported the destruction of 32 targets during these operations.<ref>{{cite news |last=Ruhiyyih Ewing |first=Giselle |date=23 October 2024 |title=Turkey strikes PKK forces in Syria, Iraq after lethal Ankara attack |url=https://www.politico.eu/article/turkey-pkk-forces-syria-iraq-ankara-attack/ |access-date=24 October 2024 |website=Politico}}</ref>

In November 2024, British police arrested seven people in London as part of a counter-terrorism investigation linked to the PKK. Searches were carried out at eight locations, including the Kurdish Community Centre, which would be closed for up to two weeks. Authorities assured the public there was no imminent threat and informed the Kurdish community that the operation was aimed at ensuring safety.<ref>{{cite news |date=27 November 2024 |title=UK counter terrorism police arrest seven over 'PKK activity' |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/uk-counter-terrorism-police-arrest-six-over-pkk-activity-2024-11-27/ |access-date=28 November 2024 |website=Reuters}}</ref>

==== Disarming and disbanding as part of peace effort ====
In February 2025, Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) leader [[Abdullah Öcalan]] urged all members of the group to lay down arms and dissolve the organisation for good.<ref>{{Cite web |date=27 February 2025 |title=Ocalan: Kurdish PKK founder who urged his fighters to disarm |url=https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20250227-ocalan-kurdish-pkk-founder-who-urged-his-fighters-to-disarm |access-date=27 February 2025 |website=France 24 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Jailed PKK ringleader Ocalan calls for terror group's dissolution |url=https://www.trtworld.com/turkiye/jailed-pkk-ringleader-ocalan-calls-for-terror-groups-dissolution-18269472 |access-date=27 February 2025 |work=TRT World}}</ref> In a statement read out by the deputies of the pro-Kurdish [[Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party]] (DEM), Öcalan called on the PKK to convene its congress, lay down its arms and dissolve itself, arguing that the party "has completed its life like its counterparts and necessitated its dissolution".<ref>{{cite news |title=Jailed Kurdish leader calls for PKK to disarm – in shift that could shake up Turkey and Middle East |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/feb/27/pkk-leader-calls-on-kurdish-militant-group-to-disarm-signalling-start-of-fragile-peace-with-turkey |access-date=27 February 2025 |website=The Guardian |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=27 February 2025 |title=Imprisoned Kurdish leader urges PKK to disarm and disband as part of peace effort with Turkey |url=https://www.voanews.com/a/imprisoned-kurdish-leader-urges-pkk-to-disarm-and-disband-as-part-of-peace-effort-with-turkey/7990140.html |access-date=27 February 2025 |website=Voice of America |language=en}}</ref> He also called for an alliance between Turks and Kurds and for peaceful coexistence,<ref>{{cite web |title=Ocalan calls for PKK's disbandment, laying arms |url=https://shafaq.com/en/Kurdistan/Ocalan-calls-for-PKK-s-disbandment-laying-arms |access-date=28 February 2025 |work=Shafaq}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=After four decades of conflict, Öcalan urges PKK to lay down arms, disband |url=https://caliber.az/en/post/after-four-decades-of-conflict-ocalan-urges-pkk-to-lay-down-arms-disband |access-date=27 February 2025 |work=Caliber}}</ref> quoting the positive political approaches of President [[Recep Tayyip Erdoğan]] and calls for peace by [[Nationalist Movement Party]] [[Devlet Bahçeli]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=27 February 2025 |title=PKK leader Öcalan calls on banned Kurdish group to dissolve |url=https://www.euronews.com/2025/02/27/pkk-leader-abdullah-ocalan-calls-on-kurdish-group-to-lay-down-arms |access-date=27 February 2025 |website=euronews |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Ocalan orders the PKK to dissolve in a historic statement |url=https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/ocalan-dissolve-pkk-historic-statement |access-date=27 February 2025 |website=Middle East Eye |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=27 February 2025 |title=Ocalan calls for PKK to drop weapons, be dissolved |url=https://www.ctvnews.ca/world/article/ocalan-calls-for-pkk-to-drop-weapons-be-dissolved/ |access-date=27 February 2025 |website=CTVNews |language=en}}</ref>

Between 5–7 May, the PKK's 12th Party Congress convened. The organisation announced its own dissolution on 12 May 2025.<ref>{{Cite web |date=12 May 2025 |title=Full text: PKK's statement on disbanding decision |url=https://bianet.org/haber/full-text-pkks-statement-on-disbanding-decision-307344 |access-date=12 May 2025 |website=bianet.org |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Butler |first1=Daren |last2=Toksabay |first2=Ece |date=12 May 2025 |title=Kurdish PKK disbands and ends 40-year Turkey insurgency |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/kurdish-pkk-dissolves-after-decades-struggle-with-turkey-news-agency-close-2025-05-12/ |website=[[Reuters]].}}</ref> The decision was appreciated by Turkish authorities. President Erdoğan characterised it as "important", stating that they have now "crossed another critical threshold" toward the goal of a terror-free Turkey.<ref name="newregion">{{cite web |author=Gashtyar Akram |date=12 May 2025 |title=Reactions pour in from Turkey as PKK announces disbandment |url=https://thenewregion.com/posts/2250/reactions-pour-in-from-turkey-as-pkk-announces-disbandment |accessdate=16 May 2025 |publisher=The New Region}}</ref> Foreign Minister [[Hakan Fidan]] described the PKK's self-dissolution as "a historic and important decision", saying that "practical steps will be taken after this".<ref name="newregion" />

== Status in Turkey ==
In Turkey, anything which could be perceived as a support of the PKK is deemed unsuitable to be shown to the public. Turkey views the demand for education in [[Kurdish languages|Kurdish language]] or the teaching of the Kurdish language as supporting terrorist activities by the PKK.<ref name=":142" /><ref name=":152" /><ref name=":162" />  The fact that both the HDP and the PKK support education in Kurdish language was included in the indictment in the [[2021 Peoples' Democratic Party closure case|Peoples' Democratic closure case]].<ref name=":142"/> In January 2016, the [[Academics for Peace]] who signed a declaration in support of peace in the [[Kurdish–Turkish conflict (2015–present)|Kurdish–Turkish conflict]] were labelled and prosecuted for "spreading terrorist propaganda" on behalf of the PKK.<ref>{{Cite web|date=5 December 2017|title=Turkey: Academics on Trial for Signing Petition|url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2017/12/05/turkey-academics-trial-signing-petition|access-date=13 November 2020|website=Human Rights Watch|language=en}}</ref> In November 2020, a playground for children in Istanbul was dismantled after the municipality decided its design too closely resembled the symbol of the PKK.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Prosecutors investigate 'PKK symbols' in new layout of recreational park in İstanbul|url=https://www.bianet.org/english/local-goverment/234301-prosecutors-investigate-pkk-symbols-in-new-layout-of-recreational-park-in-istanbul|access-date=13 November 2020|website=Bianet – Bagimsiz Iletisim Agi}}</ref> Politicians of pro-Kurdish like the [[Peace and Democracy Party]] (BDP)<ref>{{Cite web|date=20 March 2017|title=Turkey: Crackdown on Kurdish Opposition|url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2017/03/20/turkey-crackdown-kurdish-opposition|access-date=13 November 2020|website=Human Rights Watch|language=en}}</ref> or the HDP were often prosecuted and sentenced to prison term for their alleged support of the PKK.<ref>{{cite news|date=7 September 2018|title=Former head of Turkey pro-Kurdish party sentenced to 4 years in...|language=en|work=Reuters|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-turkey-security-kurds-idUSKCN1LN1K8|access-date=12 January 2019}}</ref> The possession of ''[[Devran (book)|Devran]]'', a book authored by the political prisoner [[Selahattin Demirtaş]], was viewed as an evidence for a membership in a terrorist organization in 2019 because according to the prosecution it described events involving the PKK.<ref>{{Cite web|date=13 November 2020|title=Prosecutor deems Demirtaş's book 'terrorist organization document'|url=https://www.duvarenglish.com/prosecutor-deems-demirtass-book-terrorist-organization-document-news-55032|access-date=13 November 2020|website=Duvar|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Selahattin Demirtaş's book cited as evidence of 'membership in a terrorist organization'|url=https://www.bianet.org/english/law/234361-selahattin-demirtas-s-book-cited-as-evidence-of-membership-in-a-terrorist-organization|access-date=13 November 2020|website=[[Bianet]]}}</ref>

== Status in Germany ==
{{multiple image
 | align = right
 | width = 200
 | image1 = DSC00241 PKK Logo noch nicht überklebt Demo 2016 FFM ed01.jpg
 | alt1 = Before: PKK logo visible
 | image2 = PKK Logo abgeklebt Demo Frankfurt 2016.jpg
 | alt2 = After: PKK logo pasted over
 | footer = Because the PKK is a designated terrorist organisation in [[Germany]], its symbols cannot be publicly displayed in the country. At a political demonstration in [[Frankfurt]] in April 2016, police ordered protesters to cover up the PKK flag.
}}

The PKK could count with a strong support from the [[Kurds in Germany|diaspora in Germany]] where the Hunerkom, its cultural branch was based.<ref name=":18" /> During the 1990s, the PKK was able to organize blockades of highways and its sympathizers [[Self-immolation|self-immolated]] for which the PKK official [[Cemîl Bayik|Cemil Bayik]] apologized in 2015<ref>{{Cite news|title=Drastischer Protest: PKK bittet Deutschland um Verzeihung|language=de|work=FAZ.NET|url=https://www.faz.net/aktuell/politik/inland/pkk-entschuldigt-sich-fuer-drastische-protestaktionen-in-deutschland-13530566.html|access-date=26 January 2022|issn=0174-4909}}</ref> after sympathizers of the PKK launched several waves of attacks against Turkish institutions in Germany.<ref>{{Cite web |date=26 November 1993 |title=Verbot der "Arbeiterpartei Kurdistans" in Deutschland |url=https://www.bundesregierung.de/breg-de/service/bulletin/verbot-der-arbeiterpartei-kurdistans-in-deutschland-790068}}</ref> The PKK's activities were banned by the Minister of the Interior [[Manfred Kanther]] in November 1993.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Jakob |first=Christian |date=2 September 2014 |title=Debatte PKK-Verbot in Deutschland: Aus einer anderen Zeit |language=de |work=Die Tageszeitung: taz |url=https://taz.de/!5034136/ |access-date=15 August 2022 |issn=0931-9085}}</ref> In a meeting between German MP [[Heinrich Lummer]] of the [[Christian Democratic Union of Germany]] (CDU)  and Abdullah Öcalan in [[Damascus]] in 1996, Öcalan assured Lummer that it was the PKKs aim to find a peaceful solution for their activities in Germany.<ref name=":22">{{Cite news|last=Dalan|first=Marco|date=10 April 1996|title="PKK wird Deutschland verschonen"|work=[[Die Welt]]|url=https://www.welt.de/print-welt/article647190/PKK-wird-Deutschland-verschonen.html|access-date=8 October 2020}}</ref> The PKK also demanded that it should be recognized as a legitimate entity and not as a terrorist organization in Germany,<ref name=":02">{{Cite web |date=29 June 2004 |title=29. Juni 2004 – Vor 5 Jahren: Abdullah Öcalan wird zum Tod verurteilt |url=https://www1.wdr.de/stichtag/stichtag300.html |access-date=8 October 2020 |website=www1.wdr.de |language=de}}</ref> a demand to which Germany did not accede to. In Germany several Kurdish entities such as the [[Association of Students from Kurdistan]] (YXK),<ref>{{cite report |url=https://www.verfassungsschutz.de/download/broschuere-2015-07-arbeiterpartei-kurdistans-pkk.pdf |title=Arbeiterpartei Kurdistans (PKK) |date=July 2015 |publisher=[[Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz]] |page=21 |language=de}}</ref> the Mesopotamia publishing house or the Mir Multimedia music label were deemed to be close to the PKK.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Germany bans Kurdish PKK publishing houses |url=https://www.dw.com/en/germany-bans-kurdish-pkk-publishing-houses/a-47473308 |access-date=23 June 2022 |website=DW.COM |language=en-GB}}</ref> The latter two were eventually closed down by Interior Minister [[Horst Seehofer]] who accused them of acting as a forefront of the PKK<ref name=":0" /> and to support the PKKs activities in Europe with its revenue.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Bundesinnenminister Horst Seehofer verbietet PKK-Verlag |url=https://www.bmi.bund.de/SharedDocs/pressemitteilungen/DE/2019/02/verbot-pkk-verlag.html;jsessionid=C479646825AA1570D5237CE707AAB05C.2_cid295?nn=9390260 |access-date=23 June 2022 |website=Bundesministerium des Innern und für Heimat |language=de}}</ref> The Kurdish satellite channel [[Roj TV]] was also accused of being a branch of the PKK by Interior Minister [[Wolfgang Schäuble]] and had to end its activities in Germany in 2008.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Ataman |first=Ferda |date=11 July 2008 |title=Roj TV und PKK: Der Kurdensender, der Schäubles Zorn erregte |language=de |work=[[Der Spiegel]] |url=https://www.spiegel.de/politik/deutschland/roj-tv-und-pkk-der-kurdensender-der-schaeubles-zorn-erregte-a-565129.html |access-date=23 June 2022 |issn=2195-1349}}</ref> The PKK has received political support for a lift of its prohibition by the [[The Left (Germany)|Die Linke]] and its party leader [[Bernd Riexinger]] in 2016.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Werthschulte |first=Christian |date=5 September 2016 |title=Ein Volksfest für Öcalan |language=de |page=7 |work=Die Tageszeitung: taz |url=https://taz.de/!5333261/ |access-date=15 August 2022 |issn=0931-9085}}</ref>

==Tactics==
[[File:Demonstration in Paris for slain PKK workers.jpg|thumb|Demonstration in Paris for [[Triple murder of Kurdish activists in Paris|slain PKK founder and activists]]]]
The organization said that its violent actions against the government forces were used by "the need to defend Kurds in the context of what it calls as the massive cultural suppression of Kurdish identity (including the 1983 Turkish Language Act Ban) and cultural rights carried out by other governments of the region".<ref>{{cite book|last=McDowall|first=David|title=A Modern History of the Kurds|date=August 2011|page=443}}</ref> 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.{{citation needed|date=May 2018}} In 1995 the PKK declared that it would comply with [[Geneva Conventions]] of 1949 and also its [[Protocol I|amendment of 1977]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Provost |first=René |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6X0xEAAAQBAJ&dq=%22Code+of+the+Terrorists%3A+The+PKK+and+the+Social+Construction+of+Violence%22.+Critical+Criminology.&pg=PA360 |title=Rebel Courts: The Administration of Justice by Armed Insurgents |year=2021|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=978-0190912246 |page=359 |language=en}}</ref> The PKK divides the combat area within Turkey into several regions which comprise a number of [[Provinces of Turkey|Turkish provinces]], of which each one is headed by its commander. A province is further also divided into several sub regions, in which a number of fighting battalions of between 100 and 170 militants are stationed. The battalions are again divided into companies of 60 to 70 fighters of which at least one needs to constituted by female and two by male militants.<ref name=":19">Provost, René (2021), p. 358</ref>

===Criticism===
{{See also|Kurdistan Workers' Party insurgency#Abuses by the Kurdish side}}
The PKK has faced condemnation by some countries and human rights organizations for the killing of teachers and civil servants,<ref name="amnestysecurity" /><ref>{{Cite web|title=Öğretmen Necmettin Yılmaz'ın Öldürülmesini Kınıyoruz!|url=https://www.ihd.org.tr/ogretmen-necmettin-yilmazin-oldurulmesini-kiniyoruz/|access-date=12 March 2021|website=[[İnsan Hakları Derneği]]|language=tr}}</ref> using [[Suicide attack|suicide bombers]],<ref>{{Cite web|title=Foreign diplomats, countries condemn Cizre attack – World News|url=https://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/foreign-diplomats-countries-condemn-cizre-attack-103271|access-date=12 March 2021|website=Hürriyet Daily News|date=27 August 2016 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=PKK claims deadly suicide bombing at Turkish police station|url=https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/pkk-claims-responsibility-suicide-bombing-left-11-dead-turkey-1381604350|access-date=27 December 2018|website=Middle East Eye|archive-date=14 December 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181214114351/https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/pkk-claims-responsibility-suicide-bombing-left-11-dead-turkey-1381604350|url-status=dead}}</ref> and recruiting child soldiers.<ref name="childsoldiers" /><ref name="HRWCS">{{Cite web|date=22 December 2016|title=Iraq: Armed Groups Using Child Soldiers|url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2016/12/22/iraq-armed-groups-using-child-soldiers-0|access-date=12 March 2021|website=Human Rights Watch|language=en}}</ref> According to the TEPAV, an Ankara-based think tank, a survey conducted using data from 1,362 PKK fighters who lost their lives between 2001 and 2011 estimated that 42% of the militants were recruited under 18, with roughly 9% under 15 at the time of recruitment.<ref>{{Cite web|title=The PKK and the 'Child Soldiers'|url=https://www.tepav.org.tr/en/kose-yazisi/s/3057|access-date=12 March 2021|website=TEPAV|language=en-en|archive-date=30 September 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210930135358/https://www.tepav.org.tr/en/kose-yazisi/s/3057|url-status=dead}}</ref>{{Better source needed|reason=The current source is insufficiently reliable ([[WP:NOTRS]]).|date=October 2022}} In 2013 the PKK stated it would prohibit the recruitment of children under the age of 16 as well as keep 16–18 year olds away from combat.<ref>{{Cite web|title=PKK has complied with the Geneva Conventions since 1995|url=https://anfenglish.com/features/pkk-has-complied-with-the-geneva-conventions-since-1995-50097|access-date=12 March 2021|website=[[ANF News]]|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=25 July 2015|title=Turkey: monitoring the HPG/PKK's prohibition on using children in hostilities|url=https://www.genevacall.org/turkey-monitoring-hpgpkks-prohibition-using-children-hostilities/|access-date=12 March 2021|website=Geneva Call|language=en-US}}</ref> [[Human Rights Watch]] has documented 29 cases of children being recruited into the HPG (the PKK's armed wing) and the [[Sinjar Resistance Units|YBŞ]] since 2013. Some children were recruited under the age of 15, constituting a war crime according to international law.<ref name="HRWCS" />

===Recruitment===
[[File:PKK female figher̠02.jpg|thumb|230px|PKK female fighters.]]
[[File:Pkk-peshmerga-fighters.jpg|thumb|PKK and [[Peshmerga]] fighters, 11 August 2015]]
Since its foundation, the PKK has recruited new fighters mainly from Turkey, but also from Syria, Iraq, Iran, and Western countries{{which|date=November 2021}} using various recruitment methods, such as using nationalist propaganda and its gender equality ideology. At its establishment, it included a small number of female fighters but over time the number increased significantly and by the early 1990s, 30 percent of its 17,000 armed fighting forces were women.<ref name="gender">Ali Özcan, Nihat{{cite web|url=http://jamestown.org/terrorism/news/article.php?articleid=2373638|title=PKK Recruitment of Female Operatives|access-date=23 August 2010|url-status=bot: unknown|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070915044101/http://jamestown.org/terrorism/news/article.php?articleid=2373638|archive-date=15 September 2007}}, ''Global Terrorism Analysis'', [[Jamestown Foundation]], Volume 4, Issue 28, 11 September 2007.</ref>{{Better source needed|reason=The current source is insufficiently reliable ([[WP:NOTRS]]).|date=October 2022}} After the third party congress in 1986<ref name=":14">Marcus, Aliza (2009). pp. 116–117, 119</ref> or in 1989, the PKK's armed wing issued a so-called "Compulsory Military Service Law",<ref name=":15" /> which authorized the forcible recruitment of young men. The law provoked disagreement within the party, and in 1990 it was suspended.<ref name=":14" /> The PKK has had to temporarily suspend recruitment several times since 1991, as it had difficulties providing training to the large number of volunteers who wanted to join its ranks.<ref name=":15">{{Cite journal |last=Özcan |first=Alị Kemal |date=2007 |title=The Vacillating PKK: Can It Be Resurrected? |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/4284527 |journal=Middle Eastern Studies |volume=43 |issue=1 |pages=107–110 |doi=10.1080/00263200601079740 |issn=0026-3206 |jstor=4284527  |s2cid=144547591|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

By 2020, 40% of the fighting force were women.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Szekely|first=Ora|date=2020|title=Exceptional Inclusion: Understanding the PKK's Gender Policy|url=https://doi.org/10.1080/1057610X.2020.1759265|journal=Studies in Conflict & Terrorism|volume=46 |issue=4 |pages=433–450|doi=10.1080/1057610X.2020.1759265|s2cid=219481924|issn=1057-610X|url-access=subscription}}</ref> In much of rural Turkey, where male-dominated tribal structures, and conservative [[Muslim]] norms were commonplace, the organization increased its number of members through the recruitment of women from different social structures and environments, also from families that migrated to several European countries after 1960 as [[Foreign worker|guest workers]].<ref name="gender" /> {{Better source needed|reason=The current source is insufficiently reliable ([[WP:NOTRS]]).|date=October 2022}} It was reported by a Turkish university that 88% of the subjects initially reported that equality was a key objective, and that they joined the organization based on this statement.<ref name="Hurriyet DeceivedChild">{{cite news|url=http://www.hurriyet.com.tr/gundem/6673759.asp?gid=180|title=Hepsi kandırılmış çocuklar|language=tr|work=[[Hürriyet Daily News]]|publisher=[[Ankara University|University of Ankara]]|access-date=9 June 2007}}</ref> In 2007, approximately 1,100 of 4,500–5,000 total members were women.<ref name="gender" />{{Better source needed|reason=The current source is insufficiently reliable ([[WP:NOTRS]]).|date=October 2022}}

According to the [[Jamestown Foundation]], in the early years of the PKK existence, it recruited young women by abducting them.<ref name="gender" />{{Better source needed|reason=The current source is insufficiently reliable ([[WP:NOTRS]]).|date=October 2022}} Families would also encourage family members to join the PKK in order to avenge relatives killed by the Turkish army.<ref name="gender" />{{Better source needed|reason=The current source is insufficiently reliable ([[WP:NOTRS]]).|date=October 2022}}

===Weapons===
In July 2007, the weapons captured between 1984 and 2007 from the PKK operatives and their origins published by the Turkish General Staff indicates that the operatives erased some of the serial numbers from their weapons. The total number of weapons and the origins for traceable ones were:<ref name="waponsandorigins">{{cite news|url=http://www.hurriyet.com.tr/gundem/6922630.asp?gid=180|title=İşte PKK'nın silahlarının listesi|access-date=19 July 2007|language=tr|work=[[Hürriyet Daily News]]}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable"
|+
! colspan="3" |The choice and origin of the traceable weapons (July 2007)<ref name="waponsandorigins" />
|-
!Type
!Quantity
!Sources
|-
|[[AK-47|AK-47 Kalashnikovs]]
|4,500
|71.6% from the [[Soviet Union|USSR]], 14.7% from China, 3.6% from Hungary, 3.6% from Bulgaria
|-
|Rifles<ref group="note">[[PK machine gun|PKC automatic rifle]], [[Dragunov (SVD-63) sniper rifle|Dragunov Sniper Rifle]], Arbiki, [[Heckler & Koch G3]], [[M16 rifle]], [[Heckler & Koch PSG1]] (G-1), [[Mauser]]</ref>
|5,713 (959 traceable)
|45.2% from Russia, 13.2% from United Kingdom, and 9.4% from United States.
|-
|[[Rocket launcher]]s
|1,610 (313 traceable)
|85% from Russia, 5.4% from Iraq, and 2.5% from China in origin.
|-
|[[Pistol]]s
|2,885 (2,208 traceable)
|21.9% from [[Czechoslovakia]], 20.2% from Spain, 19.8% from Italy
|-
|[[Grenade]]s
|3,490 (136 traceable)
|72% from Russia, 19.8% from United States, 8% from Germany,
|-
|[[Land mine]]s
|11,568 (8,015 traceable)
|60.8% from Italy, 28.3% from Russia, 6.2% from Germany
|}

==Resources==
===Funding===
Parties and concerts are organized by branch groups.<ref name="organizedcrime">{{cite web|url=http://www.ict.org.il/Article/1587/Kurdistan-Workers-Party|work=Counter-Terrorism Studies|publisher=[[International Institute for Counter-Terrorism|International Policy Institute for Counter-Terrorism]] (ICT)|title=Kurdistan Worker's Party (PKK)|access-date=1 September 2007|archive-date=6 February 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160206140509/http://www.ict.org.il/Article/1587/Kurdistan-Workers-Party|url-status=dead}}</ref> According to the [[EUROPOL|European Police Office (EUROPOL)]], the organization collects money from its members, using labels like 'donations' and 'membership fees' which are seen as a fact extortion and illegal taxation by the authorities. There are also indications that the organization is actively involving in money laundering, illicit drugs and human trafficking, as well as illegal immigration inside and outside the EU for funding and running its activities.<ref name="europa.eu">{{cite web|url=https://www.europol.europa.eu/sites/default/files/documents/te-sat2011_0.pdf|title=EU Terrorism Situation and Trend Report|website=Europol.europa.eu|access-date=28 December 2018}}</ref>

====Involvement in drug trafficking====
PKK's involvement in [[drug trafficking]] has been documented since the 1990s.<ref>{{cite web|author1=Glenn E. Curtis|author2=Tara Karacan|title=The nexus among terrorists, narcotics traffickers, weapons proliferators, and organized crime networks in Western Europe|url=https://www.loc.gov/rr/frd/pdf-files/WestEurope_NEXUS.pdf|work=Library of Congress|access-date=13 July 2016|page=20|format=Report|date=December 2002}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1=Turhal|first1=Tugru|title=Organizational Structure Of PKK And Non-PKK-linked Turkish Drug Trafficking Organizations|url=http://mars.gmu.edu/bitstream/handle/1920/10137/Turhal_gmu_0883E_11045.pdf|publisher=George Mason University|date=2015|page=91|access-date=2 November 2021|archive-date=30 October 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221030155358/https://mars.gmu.edu/bitstream/handle/1920/10137/Turhal_gmu_0883E_11045.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> A report by Interpol published in 1992 states that the PKK, along with nearly 178 Kurdish organizations were suspected of illegal drug trade involvement. Members of the PKK have been designated narcotics traffickers by the U.S. Department of the Treasury.<ref name="Narcotics2" /> The [[Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution]], Germany's domestic security agency, echoed this report in its 2011 [[Annual Report on the Protection of the Constitution]], stating that despite the U.S. Department of Treasury designation, there was "no evidence that the organizational structures of the PKK are directly involved in drug trafficking".<ref name="auto">{{cite web|url=http://www.verfassungsschutz.de/de/oeffentlichkeitsarbeit/publikationen/verfassungsschutzberichte/vsbericht-2011|title=Verfassungsschutzbericht 2011|last=Friedrich|first=Hans-Peter|author2=Heinz Fromm|date=18 July 2012|publisher=Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz|page=342|access-date=21 November 2013}}</ref>

On 14 October 2009, the U.S. Department of the Treasury's [[Office of Foreign Assets Control]] (OFAC) targeted the senior leadership of the PKK, designating Murat Karayılan, the head of the PKK, and high-ranking members Ali Riza Altun and [[Zübeyir Aydar]] as foreign narcotics traffickers at the request of Turkey.<ref name="Narcotics2">{{cite news|url=http://www.treasury.gov/press-center/press-releases/Pages/tg318.aspx|author=Press Center|work=[[United States Department of the Treasury|U.S. Department of the Treasury]]|title=Treasury Designates Three Leaders of the Kongra-Gel as Significant Foreign Narcotics Traffickers|date=14 October 2009|access-date=23 April 2011}}</ref> On 20 April 2011, the U.S. Department of the Treasury announced the designation of PKK founders [[Cemîl Bayik]] and [[Duran Kalkan]] and other high-ranking members as Specially Designated Narcotics Traffickers (SDNT) pursuant to the [[Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act]] (Kingpin Act). Pursuant to the Kingpin Act, the designation freezes any assets the designees may have under [[Federal jurisdiction (United States)|U.S. jurisdiction]] and prohibits U.S. persons from conducting financial or commercial transactions with these individuals.<ref name="Narcotics">{{cite web|url=http://www.treasury.gov/press-center/press-releases/Pages/tg1148.aspx|date=20 April 2011|access-date=23 April 2011|title=Treasury Designates Five Leaders of the Kongra-Gel as Specially Designated Narcotics Traffickers|publisher=United States Department of the Treasury}}</ref> On 1 January 2012, the U.S. Department of the Treasury's [[Office of Foreign Assets Control]] (OFAC) announced the designation of Moldovan-based individuals Zeyneddin Geleri, Cerkez Akbulut, and Omer Boztepe as specially designated narcotics traffickers for drug trafficking on behalf of the PKK in [[Europe]]. According to the OFAC, Zeynedding Geleri was identified as a high-ranking member of the PKK while two others were activists. The OFAC stated that the drug trafficking is still one of the organization's criminal activities it uses to obtain weapons and materials.<ref>{{cite news|date=1 February 2012|title=Treasury Sanctions Supporters of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) Tied to Drug Trafficking in Europe|publisher=US Department of the Treasury|url=https://www.treasury.gov/press-center/press-releases/Pages/tg1406.aspx}} {{PD-notice}}</ref>

According to research conducted by journalist Aliza Marcus, the PKK accepted the support of smugglers in the region. Aliza Marcus stated that some of those Kurdish smugglers who were involved in the drug trade, either because they truly believed in the PKK—or because they thought it a good business practice (avoid conflicts)—frequently donated money to the PKK rebels. However, according to Aliza Marcus, it does not seem that the PKK, as an organization, directly produced or traded in narcotics.<ref>{{cite book|last=Marcus|first=Aliza|title=Blood and belief: the PKK and the Kurdish fight for independence|url=https://archive.org/details/bloodbeliefpkkku00marc|url-access=limited|publisher=New York University Press|location=New York|date=2007|pages=[https://archive.org/details/bloodbeliefpkkku00marc/page/n195 183]–184|isbn=978-0814757116}}</ref>

[[File:Raqqa Syrian Democratic Forces 1.jpg|thumb|230px|Following the [[Syrian Democratic Forces|SDF]] capture of [[Raqqa]], YPJ and [[People's Protection Units|YPG]] troops raised a large banner of Abdullah Öcalan in the city centre.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/kurdish-fighters-raise-flag-showing-pkk-leader-abdullah-ocalan-centre-raqqa-610840006|title=Kurdish fighters raise flag of PKK leader in centre of Raqqa|work=[[Middle East Eye]]|date=19 October 2017}}</ref>]]

The [[EUROPOL]] which has monitored the organization's activities inside the EU has also claimed the organization's involvement in the trafficking of drugs.<ref name="europa.eu" />

===Human resources===
In 2008, according to information provided by the Intelligence Resource Program of the [[Federation of American Scientists]] the 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.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://fas.org/irp/world/para/pkk.htm|title=Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK)|work=[[Federation of American Scientists]]|access-date=23 July 2008|date=21 May 2004|first=John|last=Pike}}</ref> With the new wave of fighting from 2015 onwards, observers said that active support for the PKK had become a "mass phenomenon" in majority ethnic Kurdish cities in the southeast of the Republic of Turkey, with large numbers of local youth joining PKK-affiliated local militant groups.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2015/09/turkey-kurds-pkk-daglica-war-be-sustained-bloody-day.html|title=6 reasons why Turkey's war against the PKK won't last|publisher=Al-Monitor|date=8 September 2015|access-date=18 May 2016|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160328074432/http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2015/09/turkey-kurds-pkk-daglica-war-be-sustained-bloody-day.html|archive-date=28 March 2016}}</ref>

===Alleged international support===
At the height of its campaign, it is alleged that the organization received support from a range of countries. According to Turkey, those countries the PKK previously or currently received support from include: Greece,<ref>{{cite news|title=Turkey says Greece supports PKK|url=http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/default.aspx?pageid=438&n=turkey-says-greece-supports-pkk-1997-07-01|access-date=17 October 2012|newspaper=Hürriyet Daily News|date=7 January 1997|archive-date=19 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171019081333/http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/default.aspx?pageid=438&n=turkey-says-greece-supports-pkk-1997-07-01|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Greece dogged by Öcalan affair|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/287232.stm|access-date=17 October 2012|work=[[BBC News]]|date=27 February 1999}}</ref> Cyprus,<ref name="Faucompret">{{cite book|last=Faucompret|first=Erik|title=Turkish Accession to the EU: Satisfying the Copenhagen Criteria|year=2008|publisher=Taylor & Francis |location=Hoboken |isbn=978-0203928967|page=168|author2=Konings, Jozef |quote=The Turkish establishment considered the Kurds' demand for the recognition of their identity a threat to the territorial integrity of the state, the more so because the PKK was supported by countries hostile to Turkey: Soviet Union, Greece, Cyprus, Iran and especially Syria. Syria hosted the organization and its leader for twenty years, and it provided training facilities in the Beka'a Valley of Syrian-controlled northern Lebanon.}}</ref> Iran,<ref name="telegraph">{{cite news|title=Syria and Iran 'backing Kurdish terrorist group', says Turkey|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/turkey/9518194/Syria-and-Iran-backing-Kurdish-terrorist-group-says-Turkey.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220111/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/turkey/9518194/Syria-and-Iran-backing-Kurdish-terrorist-group-says-Turkey.html |archive-date=11 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|access-date=17 October 2012|newspaper=The Telegraph|date=3 September 2012}}{{cbignore}}</ref> Iraq,<ref>{{cite news|title=N. Iraq: A New Page in Foreign Policy|url=http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/default.aspx?pageid=438&n=n.-iraq-a-new-page-in-foreign-policy-1998-11-15|access-date=17 October 2012|newspaper=Hürriyet Daily News|date=15 November 1998}}</ref> Russia,<ref>{{cite news|title=Russian newspaper: Russia provided money for PKK|url=http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/default.aspx?pageid=438&n=russian-newspaper-russia-provided-money-for-pkk-2000-02-28|access-date=17 October 2012|newspaper=Hürriyet Daily News|date=28 February 2000|archive-date=19 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171019081345/http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/default.aspx?pageid=438&n=russian-newspaper-russia-provided-money-for-pkk-2000-02-28|url-status=dead}}</ref> Syria,<ref name="telegraph" /> Finland,<ref name=cnbc>{{cite news|url=https://www.cnbc.com/2022/05/23/why-turkey-doesnt-want-sweden-finland-to-join-nato.html|title=Conflict, politics and history: Why Turkey is standing in the way of Sweden and Finland's NATO bids|website=CNBC|date=8 June 2022}}</ref> Sweden<ref name=cnbc/> and the United States.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.crisisgroup.org/middle-east-north-africa/eastern-mediterranean/syria/us-joins-turkey-pkk-fight-northern-syria | title=The U.S. Joins the Turkey-PKK fight in northern Syria | date=12 May 2017 }}</ref> The level of support given has changed throughout this period. Between the PKK and the [[Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia]] (ASALA) a cooperation has been agreed on in April 1980 in [[Sidon]], Lebanon.<ref name=":32">{{Cite journal|last=Mango|first=Andrew|author-link=Andrew Mango|date=1994|title=Turks and Kurds: Review Article|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/4283686|journal=[[Middle Eastern Studies]]|volume=30|issue=4|page=986|doi=10.1080/00263209408701034|jstor=4283686|issn=0026-3206|url-access=subscription}}</ref>

;Greece: According to Ali Külebi, president of an Ankara-based nationalist think tank TUSAM, "It is obvious that the PKK is supported by Greece, considering the PKK's historical development with major support from Greece." Külebi said in 2007 that PKK militants received training at a base in [[Laurium|Lavrion]], near Athens.<ref name="Külebi">{{cite news|last1=Külebi|first1=Ali|title=PKK's Cooperation with the Greeks|url=http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/pkks-cooperation-with-the-greeks.aspx?pageID=438&n=pkk8217s-cooperation-with-the-greeks-2007-09-10|work=[[Hürriyet Daily News]]|date=9 October 2007}}</ref> Retired Greek L.T. General Dimitris Matafias and retired Greek Navy Admiral Antonis Naxakis had visited the organization's Mahsun Korkmaz base camp in Lebanon's [[Beqaa Valley]] in October 1988 along with parliamentarians from the center-left [[PASOK]].<ref name="gunter110" /> At the time it was reported that the general had assumed responsibility for training. Greeks also dispatched arms through the Republic of Cyprus.<ref name="gunter110">Gunter, Michael M. ''The Kurds and the Future of Turkey'', page 110</ref> During his trial, Öcalan admitted, as quoted in ''[[Hürriyet]]'', that "Greece has for years supported the PKK movement. They even gave us arms and rockets. Greek officers gave guerrilla training and explosives training to our militants" at a camp in Lavrion, Greece.<ref>{{cite news|title=Ocalan tells Turks of Greek arms and training for PKK, say reports|url=http://www.irishtimes.com/news/ocalan-tells-turks-of-greek-arms-and-training-for-pkk-say-reports-1.155819|newspaper=[[The Irish Times]]|date=23 February 1999}}</ref>

;Republic of Cyprus: The Republic of Cyprus has been instrumental in helping Greece supply arms to the PKK.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Gunter |first1=Michael M. |title=The Kurdish Factor in Turkish Foreign Policy |date=1994 |url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/45197497 |journal=Journal of Third World Studies |volume=11 |issue=2 |page=461|jstor=45197497 }}</ref> Further suspicion of support was stated when [[Abdullah Öcalan]] was caught with a diplomatic Cypriot passport issued under the name of Mavros Lazaros, a nationalist reporter.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.hri.org/news/cyprus/cna/1999/99-02-19_1.cna.html|title=Cyprus News Agency: News in English (PM), 99–02–19|publisher=Hellenic Resources Network|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402103939/http://www.hri.org/news/cyprus/cna/1999/99-02-19_1.cna.html|archive-date=2 April 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1999/02/18/turkey-celebrates-capture-of-ocalan/dbcbd10b-df34-4a4f-88ac-61f839528b12/|title=Turkey Celebratesn Capture of Ocalan |newspaper=Washington Post|date=20 February 1999}}</ref>

;Syria: From early 1979 to 1999, Syria had provided valuable safe havens to PKK in the region of [[Beqaa Valley]]. However, after [[History of the Kurdistan Workers' Party#The undeclared war|the undeclared war]] between Turkey and Syria, Syria placed restrictions on PKK activity on its soil such as not allowing the PKK to establish camps and other facilities for training and shelter or to have commercial activities on its territory. Syria recognized the PKK as a terrorist organization in 1998.<ref name="mfa.gov.tr">{{cite web|title=From Rep. of Turkey Ministry of Foreign Affairs|url=http://www.mfa.gov.tr/_p_statement-made-by-ismail-cem_-foreign-minister_-on-the-special-security-meeting-held-between-turkey-and-syria_br_october-20_-1998_br__unofficial-translation___p_.en.mfa|website=Republic of Turkey Ministry of Foreign Affairs|access-date=18 February 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160301105039/http://www.mfa.gov.tr/_p_statement-made-by-ismail-cem_-foreign-minister_-on-the-special-security-meeting-held-between-turkey-and-syria_br_october-20_-1998_br__unofficial-translation___p_.en.mfa|archive-date=1 March 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref> Turkey was 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.<ref name="organizedcrime" /><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/1998/int/980330/europe.a_hellenic_haven.19.html|title=A Hellenic Haven|first=Massimo|last=Calabresi|magazine=Time|access-date=22 October 2007|date=30 March 1998|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070212194259/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/1998/int/980330/europe.a_hellenic_haven.19.html|archive-date=12 February 2007}}</ref>

;Libya: In the 1990s Abdullah Öcalan appreciated the support for the "Kurdish Cause" by [[Muammar Gaddafi]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://fas.org/irp/world/para/docs/studies3.htm|title=MFA – III. International Sources of Support|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151015063707/http://fas.org/irp/world/para/docs/studies3.htm|archive-date=15 October 2015|access-date=14 November 2015}}</ref>

;[[Soviet Union]] and Russia: Former [[KGB]]-[[Federal Security Service|FSB]] officer [[Alexander Litvinenko]] said that PKK's leader Abdullah Öcalan was trained by [[KGB]]-[[Federal Security Service (Russia)|FSB]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.chechenpress.co.uk/english/news/2005/07/11/01.shtml|access-date=29 June 2008|title=The originator of the acts of terrorism in London was standing near Tony Blair|date=11 May 2007|agency=Chechen Press|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190322122341/http://www.chechenpress.co.uk/english/news/2005/07/11/01.shtml|archive-date=22 March 2019|url-status=dead}}</ref> As of 2024, Russia is still not among the states that list PKK as a terrorist group despite intense Turkish pressure.

;Support of various European states: The Dutch police reportedly raided the 'PKK paramilitary camp' in the Dutch village of [[Liempde]] and arrested 29 people in November 2004, but all were soon released.<ref>{{cite news|work=Expatica|title=Dutch police raid 'PKK paramilitary camp'|url=http://www.expatica.com/nl/articles/news/dutch-police-raid-pkk-paramilitary-camp-13898.html|access-date=22 July 2008|date=12 November 2004|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081206104738/http://www.expatica.com/nl/articles/news/dutch-police-raid-pkk-paramilitary-camp-13898.html|archive-date=6 December 2008|url-status=dead}}</ref>:
:Various PKK leaders, including Hidir Yalcin, Riza Altun, Zubeyir Aydar, and Ali Haydar Kaytan all lived in Europe and moved freely. The free movement was achieved by strong ties with influential persons. [[Danielle Mitterrand]], the wife of the former President of France [[François Mitterrand]], had active connections during the 1990s with elements of the organization's leadership that forced a downgrade in relationships between the two states.<ref name="olson">{{cite book|title=The Kurdish Nationalist Movement in the 1990s: Its Impact on Turkey and the Middle East|publisher=University Press of Kentucky|year=1996|isbn=0813119995|last=Olson|first=Robert W|author-link=Robert W. Olson|quote=...President Mitterrand's, admittedly estranged wife Danielle. So bad had ties [France-Turkey] been at one stage that formal relations had been downgraded to the level of ''charge d'affaires''.|page=[https://archive.org/details/kurdishnationali00olso/page/122 122]|url=https://archive.org/details/kurdishnationali00olso/page/122}}</ref> After harboring Ali Riza Altun, Austria arranged a flight to Iraq for him, a suspected key figure with an [[Interpol]] arrest warrant on his name.<!-- The amount of time is not specified in the source but never the less is mentioned--> Turkish foreign minister [[Abdullah Gül]] summoned the Austrian ambassador and condemned Austria's action.<ref name="Austria Ali riza altun">{{cite web|url=http://www.hurriyet.com.tr/dunya/6915035.asp?gid=180|title=Avusturya teröristi uçakla Irak'a gönderdi|work=[[Hürriyet Daily News]]|date=18 July 2007 |access-date=18 July 2007|language=tr}}</ref> On 30 September 1995, while Öcalan was in Syria, [[Damascus]] initiated contact with high-ranking German [[Christian Democratic Union of Germany|CDU]] MP [[Heinrich Lummer]] and German intelligence officials. [[Sedat Laçiner]], of the Turkish think tank [[International Strategic Research Organization|ISRO]], says that US support of the PKK undermines the US [[War on Terror]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.turkishweekly.net/editorial.php?id=29|title=The West and Terrorism: PKK as a Privileged Terrorist Organization|work=[[Journal of Turkish Weekly]]|publisher=[[International Strategic Research Organization]]|access-date=29 June 2008|date=14 May 2006|first=Sedat|last=Lacine|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080504162825/http://www.turkishweekly.net/editorial.php?id=29|archive-date=4 May 2008}}</ref>

==Designation as a terrorist group==
[[File:Welsh independence march Cardiff May 11 2019 13.jpg|thumb|right|The PKK flag at a march in Cardiff for [[Welsh independence]] in May 2019]]
The PKK has been designated as a terrorist group by a number of governments and organizations.<ref name="RadioFrance">{{cite news|url=http://www.english.rfi.fr/asia-pacific/20140116-turkey-spy-agency-denies-role-paris-kurds-murder-launches-probe|title=Turkey spy agency denies role in Paris Kurds murder, launches probe|date=16 January 2014|publisher=Radio France Internationale|access-date=5 February 2014}}</ref> It is often referred as "separatist terrorist organization" ({{langx|tr|Bölücü terör örgütü}}) by the Turkish authorities.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.timeturk.com/msb-irak-in-kuzeyindeki-zap-bolgesinde-tespit-edilen-bolucu-teror-orgutu-mensubu-6-pkk-li-terorist-duzenlenen-hava-harekatiyla-etkisiz-hale-getirildi-operasyonlarimiz-hiz-kesmeden-devam-edecek/haber-1290526|title=MSB: 'Irak'ın kuzeyindeki Zap bölgesinde tespit edilen bölücü terör örgütü mensubu 6 PKK'lı terörist, düzenlenen hava harekâtıyla etkisiz hale getirildi. Operasyonlarımız hız kesmeden devam edecek.'|website=Timeturk.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.mynet.com/bolucu-teror-orgutu-pkk-haber-listesi?|title=bölücü terör örgütü PKK Haberleri &#124; Son Dakika bölücü terör örgütü PKK Gelişmeleri – Mynet|website=Mynet Haber|access-date=16 November 2019|archive-date=16 November 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191116155602/https://www.mynet.com/bolucu-teror-orgutu-pkk-haber-listesi|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.aa.com.tr/tr/baris-pinari-harekati/teror-orgutu-pkk-35-yildir-kan-dokuyor/1625988|title=Terör örgütü PKK 35 yıldır kan döküyor|website=www.aa.com.tr}}</ref>

In the 1980s, the PKK was labeled as a terror organization by the [[Government of Sweden|Swedish government]] of [[Olof Palme]].<ref>{{Cite news|date=10 June 2020|title=Olof Palme murder: Sweden believes it knows who killed PM in 1986|language=en-GB|work=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-52991406|access-date=15 October 2020}}</ref> After [[Assassination of Olof Palme|Palme was murdered]] in 1986, the PKK was considered a potential suspect – however, this theory was soon abandoned and in September 2020, the state prosecutor Krister Petersson announced he believed he had found the murderer<ref>{{Cite web |last=Seher |first=Dietmar |date=10 June 2020 |title=Was wir über den mutmaßlichen Palme-Mörder wissen |url=https://www.t-online.de/-/83856172 |access-date=15 October 2020 |website=[[t-online]] |language=de}}</ref> and closed the case as that person was no longer alive.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Thurfjell |first=Karin |date=10 June 2020 |title=Åklagaren: Det går inte att komma runt Engström |language=sv |work=[[Svenska Dagbladet]] |url=https://www.svd.se/a/JojOq7/historiska-beskedet-om-palmemordet |access-date=22 June 2022 |issn=1101-2412}}</ref>

In 1994, Germany prohibited the activities of the PKK.<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Kurdish Movement |url=http://aei.pitt.edu/2824/1/091.pdf|date=2003|website= University of Pittsburg}}</ref>

The PKK has been designated as a [[United States State Department list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations|Foreign Terrorist Organization]] by the [[United States Department of State|US State Department]] since 1997.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2 March 2019|title=State Department Maintains Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) Designation of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK)|url=https://tr.usembassy.gov/state-department-maintains-foreign-terrorist-organization-fto-designation-of-the-kurdistan-workers-party-pkk/|access-date=7 September 2020|website=U.S. Embassy & Consulates in Turkey|language=en-US |last1=Turkey |first1=U. S. Mission }}</ref> In 2016, US Vice-president [[Joe Biden]] called the PKK a terrorist group "plain and simple" and compared it to the [[Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant|Islamic State]].<ref>{{cite news|date=23 January 2016|title=Joe Biden Says the PKK and the Islamic State Are Equal Threats to Turkey|work=[[Vice (magazine)|Vice]]|url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/joe-biden-says-the-pkk-and-the-islamic-state-are-equal-threats-to-turkey/}}</ref> In 2018, the United States also offered a $12&nbsp;million reward for information on three PKK leaders.<ref>{{cite web| title = Turkey hails US stance on PKK leaders, seeks same in Syria|work= Stars and Stripes| access-date = 8 November 2018|url=https://www.stripes.com/news/europe/turkey-hails-us-stance-on-pkk-leaders-seeks-same-in-syria-1.555631| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181108224817/https://www.stripes.com/news/europe/turkey-hails-us-stance-on-pkk-leaders-seeks-same-in-syria-1.555631| archive-date = 8 November 2018| url-status = dead| df = dmy-all}}</ref>

First designated as a terror organization by the [[European Union]] in 2002, the PKK was ordered to be removed from the EU terror list on 3 April 2008 by the [[General Court (European Union)|Court of First Instance]] on the grounds that the EU had failed to give a proper justification for listing it in the first place.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://curia.europa.eu/juris/document/document.jsf?text=&docid=71034&pageIndex=0&doclang=en&mode=lst&dir=&occ=first&part=1&cid=408346 |title=Judgment of the Court of First Instance (Seventh Chamber) of 3 April 2008. Case T-229/02: Osman Öcalan acting on behalf of Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) v Council of the European Union |date=3 April 2008 |publisher=European Court of First Instance |access-date=5 February 2014}}</ref> However, EU officials dismissed the ruling, stating that the PKK would remain on the list regardless of the legal decision.<ref name=":6">{{cite news|last=Schomberg|first=William|date=3 April 2008|title=EU was wrong to include PKK on terror list|work=|publisher=Reuters (UK)|editor=Robert Woodward|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-eu-turkey/eu-was-wrong-to-include-pkk-on-terror-list-court-idUKL0367279920080403|access-date=5 February 2014}}</ref> The EU in 2011 renewed its official listing of the PKK as group or entity subject to "specific [EU] measures to combat terrorism" under its [[Common Foreign and Security Policy]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2011:028:0057:01:EN:HTML|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120722224908/http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2011:028:0057:01:EN:HTML|url-status=dead|archive-date=22 July 2012|title=Council Decision 2011/70/CFSP of 31 January 2011 updating the list of persons, groups and entities subject to Articles 2, 3 and 4 of Common Position 2001/931/CFSP on the application of specific measures to combat terrorism – Official Journal L 028, 02/02/2011 pp. 0057–0059|newspaper=Official Journal of the EU|access-date=10 December 2012}}</ref> In 2018, Prakken d'Oliveira Human Rights Lawyers reported that the PKK won another case against its listing as a terror organization by the EU, but the PKK was kept on the list as the ruling only concerned the years from 2014 until 2017.<ref name=":7">{{Cite web |title=European Court: decisions placing the PKK on the list of terrorist organizations annulled |url=https://www.prakkendoliveira.nl/en/news/2018/european-court-decisions-placing-the-pkk-on-the-list-of-terrorist-organizations-annulled|access-date=7 September 2020|website=Prakken d'Oliveira {{!}} Human Rights Lawyers|date=15 November 2018|language=nl}}</ref>

The PKK is also a Proscribed Organisation in the United Kingdom under the [[Terrorism Act 2000]];<ref name="gov.uk">{{cite act |title=Terrorism Act 2000 |title-link=Terrorism Act 2000 |date=20 July 2000 |reporter=UK Public General Acts |volume=2000 c. 11 |chapter=Schedule 2: Proscribed Organisations |chapter-url=http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2000/11/schedule/2 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130121085241/http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2000/11/schedule/2 |archive-date=21 January 2013 |url-status=live}}</ref> the then [[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom|British Prime Minister]] [[Theresa May]] used the phrase "Kurdish terrorism" in 2018.<ref name="T.May">[http://www.kurdistan24.net/en/news/42566c81-ed95-49fe-b8bd-ec0aae9f8cf3 "UK's May uses phrase 'Kurdish terrorism' during Erdogan visit as Kurds protest in London"]. ''[[Kurdistan 24]].'' 15 May 2018.</ref>

France prosecutes Kurdish-French activists and bans organizations connected to the PKK on terrorism-related charges,<ref>{{cite book|title=Patterns of Global Terrorism 1993|year=1994|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mQMeLChgJLYC&q=30%20november%201993%20pkk%20france&pg=PA7|publisher=Diane Publishing Company|isbn = 978-0788123597|access-date=14 November 2011}}</ref> having listed the group as a terrorist organization since 1993.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.france24.com/fr/20121012-france-kurdes-turquie-arrestations-pkk-partis-travailleurs-kurdistan-adem-uzun-justice/|title=Les Kurdes de France victimes d'un "amalgame ethnique" avec le PKK ?|last=Le Roux|first=Gaëlle|date=17 October 2012|publisher=France 24|language=fr|access-date=5 February 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140114120806/http://www.france24.com/fr/20121012-france-kurdes-turquie-arrestations-pkk-partis-travailleurs-kurdistan-adem-uzun-justice/|archive-date=14 January 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref> However, French courts often refuse to extradite captured individuals criticized of PKK connections to Turkey due to technicalities in French law, frustrating Turkish authorities.{{failed verification|date=February 2019}}<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/default.aspx?pageid=438&n=turkey-and-france-to-jointly-fight-terrorism-2011-10-06|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130627150624/http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/default.aspx?pageid=438&n=turkey-and-france-to-jointly-fight-terrorism-2011-10-06|url-status=dead|archive-date=27 June 2013|title=Turkey and France to jointly fight terrorism|last=Demirtaş|first=Serkan|date=6 October 2011|work=Hürriyet Daily News|access-date=5 February 2014}}</ref>

The following other countries and organizations have listed or otherwise labelled the PKK in an official capacity as a terrorist organization:

Australia,<ref>{{cite news|url=http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200512/16/eng20051216_228411.html|title=Australia declares PKK terrorist organization|newspaper=People Daily|date=16 December 2005|access-date=10 December 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nationalsecurity.gov.au/agd/www/nationalsecurity.nsf/AllDocs/28B052FC3CCE4009CA2570DF000FB458?OpenDocument|work=Australian National Security|publisher=Australian Government|title=Kurdistan Workers Party|quote=listed in Australia (as a terrorist organization) on 17 December 2005|access-date=1 September 2007|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070831223856/http://www.nationalsecurity.gov.au/agd/www/nationalsecurity.nsf/AllDocs/28B052FC3CCE4009CA2570DF000FB458?OpenDocument|archive-date=31 August 2007}}</ref> Austria,<ref>{{cite book|last=Walter|first=Christian|title=Terrorism as a challenge for national and international law|year=2004|publisher=Springer |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GNCpeUdVkOoC&q=18%20october%201995%20pkk&pg=PP1|isbn=3540212256|access-date=14 November 2011}}</ref> Azerbaijan,<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.az/articles/politics/41416|title=Azerbaijan officially recognizes PKK as terrorist organization – Aliyev|format=photos|date=28 July 2011|publisher=News.Az|access-date=21 November 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131230235641/http://news.az/articles/politics/41416|archive-date=30 December 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref> Canada,<ref>[http://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/cnt/ntnl-scrt/cntr-trrrsm/lstd-ntts/crrnt-lstd-ntts-eng.aspx#2035 Currently listed entities], Public Safety Canada</ref> Czech Republic,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mzv.cz/jnp/en/issues_and_press/archive/statements/x2008/x2008_10_06_turkey_attack_pkk|title=Condemnation of the PKK terrorist attack in Turkey|publisher=[[Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs]]|year=2008|access-date=17 July 2016|archive-date=11 August 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160811100448/http://www.mzv.cz/jnp/en/issues_and_press/archive/statements/x2008/x2008_10_06_turkey_attack_pkk|url-status=dead}}</ref> Iran,<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.iran-press-service.com/ips/articles-2004/july/turkey_iran_31704~print.shtml|title=Erdogan Back Home From His Tehran Visit Empty Hands|last=Haeri|first=Safa|date=31 July 2004|publisher=Iran Press Service|access-date=21 November 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130419173404/http://www.iran-press-service.com/ips/articles-2004/july/turkey_iran_31704~print.shtml|archive-date=19 April 2013}}</ref> Japan,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mofa.go.jp/announce/announce/2002/7/0705.html|title=Implementation of the Measures including the Freezing of Assets against Terrorists and the Like|date=5 July 2002|publisher=Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan|access-date=21 November 2013}}</ref> Kazakhstan,<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.rferl.org/content/article/1071987.html|title=Kazakhstan Updates List of Banned Terrorist Groups|date=12 October 2006|publisher=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty|agency=Kazakhstan Today, Interfax-Kazakhstan|access-date=5 February 2014}}</ref> Kyrgyzstan,<ref>{{cite news|url=http://fr.apa.az/news.php?id=1873|title=Le Kirghizistan a connu PKK comme une organisation terroriste|date=12 June 2008|publisher=Azerbaijan Press Agency|language=fr|access-date=5 February 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120710175128/http://fr.apa.az/news.php?id=1873|archive-date=10 July 2012}}</ref> New Zealand,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.police.govt.nz/sites/default/files/publications/renew-pkk-as-terrorist-entity-11-feb-2013.pdf|title=Statement of Case to Renew the Designation of Partiya Karkeren Kurdistan [PKK] as a Terrorist Entity|date=11 February 2013|publisher=New Zealand Police|access-date=21 November 2013}}</ref> Spain,<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.expatica.com/es/news/spanish-news/spain-arrests-six-kurds-suspected-of-financing-pkk_258470.html|title=Spain arrests six Kurds suspected of financing PKK|date=12 February 2013|publisher=Expatica|agency=Agence France-Presse|access-date=5 February 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140221225058/http://www.expatica.com/es/news/spanish-news/spain-arrests-six-kurds-suspected-of-financing-pkk_258470.html|archive-date=21 February 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref> Syria<ref name="mfa.gov.tr" /> and Iraq.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Iraq bans PKK after high level security talks with Turkish officials |url=https://www.rudaw.net/english/middleeast/15032024 |access-date=15 March 2024 |website=www.rudaw.net}}</ref>

In May 2022, Finland and Sweden submitted applications to join the [[NATO]] alliance as a response to the [[2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine|invasion of Ukraine]], Turkey has opposed their admission to the alliance unless they crack down on local PKK, [[Democratic Union Party (Syria)]] (PYD) and [[People's Defense Units]] (YPG) networks. On 28 June, the first day of the [[2022 Madrid summit|2022 NATO summit]] in Madrid, the Turkish delegation softened their opposition to Finland and Sweden's NATO membership applications and signed a tripartite memorandum addressing Turkey's concerns regarding arms exports and Kurdish relations. Finland and Sweden affirmed that the PKK is "a terrorist organization".<ref>{{cite news |title=NATO deal with Sweden and Finland: Ankara celebrates 'national victory,' worries mount in Stockholm |url=https://www.lemonde.fr/en/international/article/2022/06/29/nato-deal-with-sweden-and-finland-ankara-celebrates-national-victory-worries-mount-in-stockholm_5988325_4.html |work=Le Monde |date=29 June 2022}}</ref> On 30 June 2022, Turkish President [[Recep Tayyip Erdoğan]] said that Sweden made a "promise" to extradite "73 terrorists" wanted by Turkey.<ref>{{cite news |title=Sweden refuses to deny deportations to Turkey as part of NATO deal |url=https://www.thelocal.se/20220703/sweden-refuses-to-deny-deportations-to-turkey-part-of-nato-deal/ |work=[[The Local]]|date=3 July 2022}}</ref>

=== Refusal to designate PKK as a terrorist group ===

Russia has long ignored Turkish pressure to ban the PKK.<ref>{{cite web|last=Balcer|first=Adam|year=2012|title=An Audit of Power: Turkey's Leverage in the Post Soviet Space|url=http://edam.org.tr/document/bsdp5.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140221171909/http://edam.org.tr/document/bsdp5.pdf|archive-date=21 February 2014|access-date=5 February 2014|work=Black Sea Discussion Paper Series|publisher=Centre for Economics and Foreign Policy Studies (EDAM)|page=10}}</ref> The [[Federal Council (Switzerland)|government of Switzerland]] has also rejected Turkish demands to blacklist the PKK.<ref>{{cite news|last=Hotz|first=Stefan|date=7 October 2006|title=Nicht mit dem Finger zeigen|language=de|work=[[St. Galler Tagblatt]]|url=http://tagblatt.ch/index.php?artikelxml=jsp&artikel_id=1245738&ressort=tagblattheute/schlagzeilen|url-status=dead|access-date=5 February 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929131855/http://tagblatt.ch/index.php?artikelxml=jsp&artikel_id=1245738&ressort=tagblattheute%2Fschlagzeilen|archive-date=29 September 2007}}</ref> Switzerland does not have a list of terrorist organizations,<ref>{{cite news|last=Keinon|first=Herb|date=17 July 2009|title=For Switzerland, there are no terror organizations|work=[[The Jerusalem Post]]|url=https://www.jpost.com/International/For-Switzerland-there-are-no-terror-organizations|access-date=13 June 2020}}</ref> but it has taken its own measures to monitor and restrict the group's activities on Swiss soil, including banning the collection of funds for the group in November 2008.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.bernerzeitung.ch/schweiz/standard/story/16907379|title=Bundesrat nimmt PKK an die Leine|date=5 November 2008|work=[[Berner Zeitung]]|language=de|access-date=5 February 2014}}</ref>

In 2020, the supreme court of Belgium ruled that the PKK was not a terrorist organization, instead labeling the group as an actor in an internal armed conflict.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Faidhi Dri|first=Karwan|date=29 January 2020|title=Belgian court rules in PKK's favor in terror cases|url=https://www.rudaw.net/english/world/29012020|access-date=10 March 2021|website=rudaw.net|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=30 January 2020|title=Belgian government defies ruling of its supreme court on PKK|url=https://www.brusselstimes.com/belgium/92787/belgian-government-defies-ruling-of-its-supreme-court-on-pkk/|access-date=10 March 2021|website=[[The Brussels Times]]|language=en}}</ref> Following this, the Belgian Government announced that the ruling would not affect the current designation of the PKK as a terrorist organization.<ref>{{Cite web|date=11 March 2019|title=Turkey summons Belgian ambassador in Ankara over PKK ruling|url=https://www.dw.com/en/turkey-summons-belgian-ambassador-in-ankara-over-pkk-ruling/a-47858349|access-date=13 June 2020|website=[[Deutsche Welle]]|language=en-GB}}</ref>

==Flags==
===Party flags===
{{multiple image
| footer =
| align = center
| image1 = Flag_of_the_Kurdistan_Workers'_Party_(1978-1995).svg
| width1 = 160
| caption1 = Flag of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) (1978–1995)<ref name=Symbole />
| image2 = Flag of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (1995-2002).svg
| width2 = 160
| caption2 = Flag of the PKK (1995–2000)<ref name=Symbole />
| image3 = Flag of Kongreya Azadî û Demokrasiya Kurdistanê.svg
| width3 = 160
| caption3 = {{ubl|Flag of the PKK (2000–2002)|Flag of the KADEK (2002–2003)<ref name=Symbole />}}
| image4 = Flag of Kongreya Gelê Kurdistanê.svg
| width4 = 160
| caption4 = Flag of the Kongra-Gel (KGK) (2003–present)<ref name=Symbole /><ref>{{cite news |last1=ANF News Desk |title=KONGRA GEL calls on people to step up resistance |url=https://anfenglishmobile.com/news/kongra-gel-calls-on-people-to-step-up-resistance-31281 |access-date=22 May 2019 |agency=ANF English |publisher=Ajansa Nûçeyan a Firatê |date=9 December 2018 |language=en}}</ref>
| image5 = Flag of Kurdistan Workers' Party.svg
| width5 = 160
| caption5 = Flag of the PKK (2005–present)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.geopoliticalmonitor.com/turkey-takes-aim-kurds/|title=Turkey Takes Aim at the Kurds|date=15 October 2014|publisher=Geopoliticalmonitor.com}}</ref>
}}

===Flags of wings===
{{multiple image
| footer =
| align = center
| image1 = Flag_of_Hêzên_Parastina_Gel.svg
| width1 = 160
| caption1 = Flag of the People's Defense Forces (HPG, Formerly HRK and ARGK)<ref name=Bayraklar>{{cite web |title=Bayraklar |url=http://hezenparastin.info/tr/bayraklar/index.html |website=hezenparastin.info |access-date=11 October 2019 |archive-date=30 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191030223803/http://hezenparastin.info/tr/bayraklar/index.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>
| image2 = Flag of Artêşa Rizgariye Gêle Kurdistan (ARGK).svg
| width2 = 160
| caption2 = Variant of the flag of the People's Liberation Army of Kurdistan (ARGK), inscribed with the group's acronym (1986–1999)
| image3 = Flag of Kurdistan Workers' Party.svg
| width3 = 160
| caption3 = Flag of the National Liberation Front of Kurdistan (ERNK) (1985–2000)<ref name=Symbole>{{cite web |last1=Spielberg |first1=Georg |title=PKK Embleme und Symbole |url=http://www.verfassungsschutz-bw.de/,Lde/Startseite/Arbeitsfelder/Embleme_und_Symbole_PKK |location=Baden-Württemberg |publisher=[[State Office for the Protection of the Constitution]] |access-date=17 May 2019 |language=de |date=8 August 2013 |archive-date=17 May 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190517141438/http://www.verfassungsschutz-bw.de/,Lde/Startseite/Arbeitsfelder/Embleme_und_Symbole_PKK |url-status=dead }}</ref>
| image4 = First_flag_of_the_YJA-STAR.svg
| width4 = 160
| caption4 = Former flag of the Free Women's Units of Star (YJA-STAR)<ref name=Bayraklar />
| image5 = Flag_of_YJA-Star.svg
| width5 = 160
| caption5 = Current flag of the YJA-STAR<ref>{{cite web |title=Kahramanlık Çizgisi Kürt Halkının Özgür Kimliğidir! – YJA STAR |url=http://www.yjastar.com/tr/yja-star/309-kahramanlk-cizgisi-kuert-halknn-oezguer-kimligidir |website=yjastar.com |access-date=11 October 2019 |date=26 March 2014 |archive-date=11 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191011194000/http://www.yjastar.com/tr/yja-star/309-kahramanlk-cizgisi-kuert-halknn-oezguer-kimligidir |url-status=dead }}</ref>
| direction =
| total_width =
}}

== See also ==
* [[Peshmerga]]
* [[List of armed groups in the Syrian Civil War]]
* [[Aslı Ceren Aslan]]

=== Related and associated organizations ===
{{div col}}
* [[Civil Protection Units]], Turkey
* [[Communist Labour Party of Turkey/Leninist]]
* [[Communist Party of Turkey/Marxist–Leninist]]
* [[Dawronoye]] –&nbsp;secular,&nbsp;leftist,&nbsp;nationalist&nbsp;movement among the&nbsp;Assyrian people
* [[Democratic Union Party (Syria)|Democratic Union Party]], Syria
* [[Devrimci Karargâh]], former far-left organization in&nbsp;Turkey
* [[Êzîdxan Protection Force]], Yazidi&nbsp;militia in Syria
* [[Êzîdxan Women's Units]], Yazidi&nbsp;women's militia in Syria
* [[International Freedom Battalion]]
* [[Kurdistan Communities Union]]
* [[Kurdistan Democratic Solution Party]]
* [[Kurdistan Free Life Party]]
* [[Kurdistan Freedom Hawks]]
* [[Maoist Communist Party (Turkey)|Maoist Communist Party]]
* [[Marxist–Leninist Armed Propaganda Unit]]
* [[Marxist–Leninist Communist Party (Turkey)|Marxist–Leninist Communist Party]]
* [[Marxist–Leninist Party (Communist Reconstruction)]] 
* [[People's Defense Units]]
* [[Peoples' United Revolutionary Movement]]
* [[Revolutionary Party of Kurdistan]]
* [[Revolutionary People's Party (Turkey, illegal)|Revolutionary People's Party]]
* [[Sinjar Alliance]]
* [[Sinjar Resistance Units]]
* [[United Freedom Forces]]
* [[Women's Protection Units]]
* [[YDG-H]]
* [[YPG International]]
{{div col end}}

==Notes==
{{Reflist|group=note}}
{{Reflist|group=n}}
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
{{Commons category}}
* {{Cite book |last1=Jongerden |first1=Joost |url=https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781003008842-2/democratic-nation-joost-jongerden-cengiz-gunes |title=Beyond Nationalism and the Nation-State |last2=Gunes |first2=Cengiz |publisher=[[Routledge]] |year=2021 |isbn=9781003008842 |edition=1st |chapter=A democratic nation - The Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and the idea of nation beyond the state |doi=10.4324/9781003008842}}
* [https://www.academia.edu/11674094/Turkey_and_the_Kurds_From_War_to_Reconciliation Arin, Kubilay Yado, Turkey and the Kurds – From War to Reconciliation? UC Berkeley Center for Right Wing Studies Working Paper Series, 26 March 2015]
* {{Cite journal |last=Cosar Unal |first=Mustafa |date=11 June 2012 |title=The Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and popular support: counterterrorism towards an insurgency nature |journal=Small Wars & Insurgencies |publisher=[[Taylor & Francis]] |volume=23 |issue=3 |pages=432–455 |doi=10.1080/09592318.2012.661610}}
* Öcalan, Abdullah. ''Interviews and Speeches [about P.K.K.'s Kurdish cause]''. London: Published jointly by Kurdistan Solidarity Committee and Kurdistan Information Centre, 1991. 46 p. {{ISBN?}}<!-- Perhaps there is a WorldCat listing -->

{{Turkey–PKK conflict}}
{{Kurdish nationalist organisations}}
{{Peoples' United Revolutionary Movement}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kurdistan Workers' Party}}
[[Category:Kurdistan Workers' Party| ]]
[[Category:1978 establishments in Asia]]
[[Category:2025 disestablishments in Asia]]
[[Category:Apoist organizations in Turkey]]
[[Category:Communism in Kurdistan]]
[[Category:Democratic confederalism]]
[[Category:Far-left politics in Turkey]]
[[Category:Kurdish irredentism]]
[[Category:Kurdish nationalist organizations]]
[[Category:Kurdish organisations]]
[[Category:Kurdish separatism in Turkey]]
[[Category:Left-wing militant groups]]
[[Category:Libertarian socialist parties]]
[[Category:Resistance movements]]
[[Category:Organizations based in Asia designated as terrorist]]
[[Category:Organisations designated as terrorist by Australia]]
[[Category:Organizations designated as terrorist by Canada]]
[[Category:Organisations designated as terrorist by the European Union]]
[[Category:Organisations designated as terrorist by Iran]]
[[Category:Organisations designated as terrorist by Japan]]
[[Category:Organisations designated as terrorist by New Zealand]]
[[Category:Organizations designated as terrorist by Turkey]]
[[Category:Organisations designated as terrorist by the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Organizations designated as terrorist by the United States]]
[[Category:Organizations established in 1978]]
[[Category:Organizations disestablished in 2025]]
[[Category:Organized crime groups in Turkey]]
[[Category:Rebel groups in Turkey]]