Djibril Rouzaud

pd.7
01-Jun-15

Turkish Government response to the Kurdistan Workers Party

Timeline:
1971 - Army forces Demirel's resignation after spiral of political violence.
1984 Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) launches separatist guerrilla war in southeast.
1992 - 20,000 Turkish troops enter Kurdish safe havens in Iraq in anti-PKK operation.
1993 PKK forms a government in east Turkey
1994 Turkish military given full power to destroy the PKK
1995 negotiations between government and the negotiations break down
1999 February - PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan captured in Kenya. PKK declares unilateral
ceasefire
2004 PKK ends ceasefire
2006 30 September - Kurdish separatist group, the PKK, declares a unilateral ceasefire in
operations against the military.
2007 December - Turkey launches a series of airstrikes on fighters from the Kurdish PKK
movement inside Iraq.
2010 PKK leader Murat Karayilan says it is willing to disarm in return for greater political and
cultural rights for Turkey's Kurds. Turkey refuses to comment.
2013 the PKK struck a peace deal with Turkey
sources:
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-17994865
http://www.peri.umass.edu/fileadmin/pdf/Turkey.pdf
http://www.nationalsecurity.gov.au/Listedterroristorganisations/Pages/KurdistanWorkersPartyPK
K.aspx
http://www.mfa.gov.tr/pkk_kongra-gel.en.mfa
The Turkish interventions against the Kurdistan Workers' Party or the PKK has had changed
throughout the years, some years heavy military interventions and other completely silent on the
topic. After Turkeys independence in 1923 the government outlawed the Kurdish language and
culture, the government didnt want to acknowledge the existence of the Kurdish people. After
multiple military coups during the 60s and the early 70s the Government called for martial law
in the Kurdish areas causing the rise of the Kurdistan Workers' Party or the PKK in 1974 .A little
about the PKK founded in 1974 as a peaceful rebel group to establish independence for the
Kurdish state within Turkey took a desperate turn in 84 and took arms to fight for the
independence changing its name to the Kurdistan Freedom and Democracy Congress (KADEK).
Throughout the years the government is becoming more and more open to resolve this crisis that
has been hitting their country for years.

Djibril Rouzaud
pd.7
01-Jun-15

In 1988 the PKK decided to destroy areas involved the country's economy including
shops, markets however continued to burn schools culture which included schools and the
professors. The government in efforts to end the rebellion they ordered 20,000 Turkish troops to
watch over the Kurdish areas and to suppress protestations. As a the Turkish military has been
given full rights and power to defeat the PKK but the PKK on the other hand ask to establish
peace talks with the government which fell through the year after. Through the years of 1995 and
1999 the PKK were forcibly recruiting soldiers and the UN has condemned the PKK for this
throughout these years but nothing else was ever pushed onto the PKK over the accusations. IN
1999 the PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan was arrested in Kenya and was then extradited to Turkey
where there he was then sentenced to death by the highest court, however his sentence changed
in 2002 due to Turkey trying to join the EU and to join had to abolish the death penalty, Ocalan
sentence was then changed to life in prison where he is still serving. Even though Ocalan is
serving his sentence he still plays a major role in when the PKK ask for peace talks which he
finally demands in 2013. After Ocalan sentence the PKK declared a ceasefire. In 2002 the state
of emergency was lifted after being put in place for 15 years in the provinces of Diyarbakir and
Sirnak) incidentally in 2003 the PKK changes its name once more to the Kurdistan People's
Congress (KHK) for the KONGRA-GEL . The following year the PKK ends the ceasefire, as
well in the following years to come the PKK would declare unilateral ceasefire for operations
against the government in which the government would be open to peace talks but at each
session the talks would break through. In 2007 the government wanted to put pressure on the
organization and in their efforts the government ordered an airstrike on certain high profile areas
of high PKK activities. In 2010 the leader in power Murat Karayilan was willing to disarm the

Djibril Rouzaud
pd.7
01-Jun-15

troops in order to end the situation and finally Ocalan and Karayilan wanted to strike a deal with
the government and in 2013 a peace deal was struck ending a near 40 year old problem which
claimed 40,000 lives.
The efforts of the government had to change throughout the years because they wanted to
be involved in the EU and in other international groups not limited to the Black sea alliance in
92 to help with military issues including the PKK and later on ISIS in which the KHK is helping
in stopping them because they believed that their acts of barbarism is appalling and needs to be
stopped. The government being open to talks in which must fell through due to attacks from the
PKK during the talks and ceasefire throughout the years. The Turkish government did what was
needed to end a conflict that was not only hurting a minority group that helped with Turkey
obtaining its independence, in 1923. The group were secluded and denied rights. The people
involved in the government looked at what previous administrations had done to them and is
trying to correct a wrong that was way overdue to the Kurdish people.
Sources:
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/mar/22/turkey.kurds
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-20971100
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/oct/08/why-world-ignoring-revolutionarykurds-syria-isis
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-30000969
http://www.news.com.au/world/middle-east/the-islamic-states-worst-enemy-kurdish-terroriststhe-pkk/story-fnh81ifq-1227054620967
http://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6aba674.html