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.

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 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.

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.

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.

Jan 10, 2025 · Turkey’s (alt. Türkiye) decades-long struggle with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (Kurdish acronym PKK) has fostered both cooperation and contention between the Turkish security forces, and civilians. After the 1991 Gulf War, the PKK entrenched itself further in northern Iraq, prompting periodic Turkish military action. United States and Turkey.

Feb 6, 2025 · 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 ...

The PKK, also known as KADEK and Kongra-Gel, is internationally listed as a terrorist organization by several states and organizations, including the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), the United States, and the European Union (EU).

Oct 25, 2024 · Who is the PKK and what do they strive for? The Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) has claimed responsibility for the attack on the Turkish defense company TUSAS in Ankara, according to the Kurdish...