The Kurdistan Workers' Party [a] or PKK is a Kurdish militant political organization and armed guerrilla movement which historically operated throughout Kurdistan but is now primarily based in the mountainous Kurdish-majority regions of southeastern Turkey and northern Iraq.

Jan 25, 2025 · Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), militant Kurdish nationalist organization founded by Abdullah Ocalan in the late 1970s. Although the group initially espoused demands for the establishment of an independent Kurdish state, its stated aims were later tempered to calls for greater Kurdish autonomy.

The history of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) began in 1974 as a Marxist–Leninist organization under the leadership of Abdullah Öcalan. [1] In 1978 the organization adopted the name "Kurdistan Workers Party" and waged its low-level Urban War in Turkish Kurdistan between 1978 and 1980.

Jan 10, 2013 · The PKK is listed as a terrorist organisation by Turkey, the EU and US. Human rights groups say many civilians have died during Turkey's anti-PKK offensive in the south-east.

The Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), also known as Kongra-Gel, is a militant Marxist-Leninist Kurdish separatist group established in 1978 with the goal of creating a unified, independent Kurdistan. The group aims to gain control of Kurdish areas of Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Turkey to advance Kurdish rights and recognition.

Jul 13, 2023 · Almost 40 years after beginning its insurgency, the PKK is now embedded in a regional constellation of groups that seek international legitimacy and Kurdish autonomy. The PKK continues to pose a threat to Turkish security forces and civilians, but its main impact beyond the region in recent years has been to complicate the Turkey-U.S. relationship.

The Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) is a Kurdish militant organization and armed guerrilla movement currently operating in Turkey founded by Abdullah Öcalan in the 1970s. Since 1984 there have been many clashes between them and the Turkish government.

Feb 3, 2025 · The PKK envisions a decentralized system of self-governance that would span the Kurdish regions of Turkey, Syria, Iraq, and Iran. As long as autonomous rule in Syria endures, this dream stays alive. Now, the biggest obstacle to ending that autonomy and integrating the SDF into a Syrian national force is the United States.

6 days ago · A Turkish drone strike on Thursday killed three members of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), Iraqi Kurdistan's counter-terrorism service said, the latest military pressure from Turkey ahead of an ...

Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), Militant Kurdish nationalist organization. Founded in 1978, the group sought to establish an independent Kurdish state in southeastern Turkey. It attacked Turkish interests and fellow Kurds suspected of collaboration with the Turkish government, often from bases in Iraq and Syria.