Who are Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK)?

November 15, 2022

Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK is responsible for the bombing that killed six people and injured several dozen on Istiklal Avenue in Türkiye’s Istanbul. The attack is said to have been ordered from Kobani – a majority Kurdish city in northern Syria bordering Türkiye.

About the PKK

The Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) was founded by the Marxist revolutionary Abdullah Öcalan in 1978 to create an independent Kurdistan.
Its guerrilla forces fought against the Turkish army from 1984 until Öcalan was captured in 1999, when 40,000 Kurdish civilians were killed.
The PPK declared ceasefire in 2013. However, this ceasefire collapsed after Turkey joined the war against the Islamic State in 2015 and started bombing PKK targets in Iraq.
Under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Türkiye cracked down PKK militants as well as Kurdish civilians, including lawmakers and activists.
According to the government of Türkiye, the PKK mainly targets police, military, economic and social assets of the country. The terrorist organization is also involved in attacks against civilians and diplomatic and consular facilities as well as in extortion, arms smuggling and drug trafficking.

Who are the Kurds?

The Kurds are the major ethnic group who live in the mountainous geo-cultural region called Kurdistan. The Kurdistan spans from southeastern Turkey in the west to northwestern Iran in the east and from northern Iraq to northern Syria in the south to Armenia in the north.

A large number of Kurds live in highlands of southern and eastern Turkey, northern Iraq, northeastern Syria, northwestern Iran and in several parts of the southern Armenia. Due to their geographical separation, Kurds are minorities in these countries. Kurds also live in Georgia, Kazakhstan, Lebanon, and eastern Iran.

According to Kurdish nationalists, the ethnic community’s history dates back to the 7^th century, when most tribes in the region adopted Islam. Majority of Kurds are Sunni Muslims, with minority following Sufism and other mystical practices. The language spoken by the Kurds is closely related to Persian and Pashto, though the local dialects are distinct.

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