TURKEY
PKK (Workers’ Party of Kurdistan)
Aliases:
Party Karkaren Kurdistan, PKK
Descrption & Ideology:
The PKK, formed in 1974 in Ankara, Turkey, evolved from the Ankara
Democratic Patrotic Association of Higher Education, known as “APOCUS
“. PKK is headed by its first and only leader, Abdullah Ocalan, known
as Apo. When it was formally established in 1978, the primary objective of
the PKK was to foster a
communist revolution in Turkey. Currently the PKK advocates the formation
of a federation system within the Middle East in which the rights of the
Kurdish people will be observed and preserved. The PKK openly advocates
the use of violence to achieve change.
Location & Areas of Operation:
PKK is based in Southeastern Turkey. The PKK maintains military bases in Syria, Iran, Iraq, Libya and the Bekka Valley in Lebanon.
Strength & External Support:
It is estimated by the U.S. state department that the PKK has grown to about 10,000 members, 15,000 armed supporters, and 60,000-75,000 part-time guerrillas. It also maintians that the group has “ hundreds of thousands “ of sympathizers in Turkey and Europe. The PKK receives three forms of support from several foreign nations: Direct aid in terms of money, weapons and training, logistical support in the shape of bases or safe havens, and moral support in the form of open political assistence for the organization’s goals, ideology, and princpals.
The PKK currently receives direct aid from Syria, Iraq, Iran and Libya. It is alleged that the PKK is also currently or has recently obtained direct, logistical and moral support from the former Soviet Union, Cyprus, Greece, and Armenia. It also rumored the PKK has maintained relations with the Palestine Liberation Organization( PLO) and Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia(ASALA).
Activities:
PKK’s activities have involved attacking the military, economic and social structures in Turkey. Primary targets of the PKK are Turkish security forces and the civilians residing in Eastern Turkey. Until the 1980 military coup, the PKK concentrated its activities primarily in three regions of southeastern Turkey: ( 1 )Antep, Kahramanmaras and Malatya, ( 2 )Urfa, Diyarbakir, and Mardin, and ( 3 )Elazig, Tunceli, and Blngol. However during the 1980s PKK has become increasingly active in Western Europe against Turkish targets by coordinating attacks on Turkish diplomatic, commerical, and business facilties. The PKK has pursed a wide range of operations to facilitate its terrorist campaign. These include attacking Turkey’s tourism industry, economic infrastructure, educational institutions, and teachers in southeast Turkey; using cyanide to posion military drinking water supplies; and engaging in uncoventional tactics, ranging from assassination to drive-by shooting, burning villages and forests, and executing uncooperative civilians. During the period from 1984 to July 1992, over 4,200 deaths in Turkey were directly attributed to PKK terrotist activites. According to Turkish officals by 1995 PKK violence has claimed about 15,000 civilain and military personnel.