The Kurdistan Workers' Party 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. Since 1984, the PKK has utilized asymmetric warfare in the Kurdish–Turkish conflict. Although the PKK once sought an independent Kurdish state, in the 1990s its aims shifted toward autonomy and increased rights for Kurds within Turkey.
Islamic Party of Kurdistan is a Kurdish (Sunni) Islamist organisation established in 1979 and led-by Muhammad Salih Mustafa. Other prominent names of the organisation include Hamit Turgut (deceased), Osman Caner and Sukuti Evcim. Turkish authorities claims that the organisation which is targeting mainly Turkey is active in Iraq, United States and Europe.
Kurdish women have traditionally played important roles in Kurdish society and politics. In general, Kurdish women's rights and equality have improved dramatically in the 21st century due to progressive movements within Kurdish society. However, despite the progress, Kurdish and international women's rights organizations still report problems related to gender inequality, forced marriages, honor killings, and in Iraqi Kurdistan, female genital mutilation (FGM).
The Kurdistan Free Life Party, or PJAK, is a Kurdish leftist anti-Islamic Republic of Iran armed militant group. It has waged an intermittent armed struggle since 2004 against the Iranian regime, seeking self-determination through some degree of autonomy for Kurds in Iran (also known as "Eastern Kurdistan" or "Rojhelat".
The Kurdish–Turkish conflict is an armed conflict between the Republic of Turkey and various Kurdish insurgent groups who have either demanded separation from Turkey to create an independent Kurdistan, or attempted to secure autonomy and greater political and cultural rights for Kurds inside the Republic of Turkey.
Operation Dawn was a cross-border operation by the Turkish Armed Forces into northern Iraq between 25 September and 15 October 1997 against the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), following Operation Hammer earlier the same year.
Operation Northern Iraq was a cross-border operation by the Turkish Armed Forces into northern Iraq between 12 October and 1 November 1992 against the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) which is listed as a terrorist organization internationally by a number of states and organizations, including the United States, NATO and the EU. More than 37,000 people have been killed in the Kurdish–Turkish conflict since 1984.
The Iraqi Kurdish Civil War was a civil war that took place between rival Kurdish factions in Iraqi Kurdistan during the mid-1990s, mostly between the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan and the Kurdistan Democratic Party. Over the course of the conflict, Kurdish factions from Iran and Turkey, as well as Iranian, Iraqi and Turkish forces, were drawn into the fighting, with additional involvement from American forces. Between 5,000 and 8,000 fighters and civilians were killed.
The Iran–PJAK conflict is an armed conflict between the Islamic Republic of Iran and Kurdish rebels of the Kurdistan Free Life Party (PJAK), which began in 2004. The group has carried out numerous attacks in the Kurdistan Province of Iran and provinces of Western Iran. PJAK is closely affiliated with the militant Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), the primary opponent of the Republic of Turkey in the Kurdish–Turkish conflict. PJAK has been designated as a terrorist organization by Iran, Japan, Turkey, and the United States.
This is the timeline of the Turkish-Kurdish conflict. The Kurdish insurgency is an armed conflict between the Republic of Turkey and various Kurdish insurgent groups, which have demanded separation from Turkey to create an independent Kurdistan, or to have autonomy and greater political and cultural rights for Kurds in Turkey. The main rebel group is the Kurdistan Workers' Party or PKK, which was founded on November 27, 1978, and started a full-scale insurgency on August 15, 1984, when it declared a Kurdish uprising. Apart from some extended ceasefires, the conflict has continued to the present day.
2011 Iran–Iraq cross-border raids were a series of operations, performed by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), against the Kurdistan Free Life Party (PJAK), a Kurdish rebel group. The operations began in July 2011, and have included attacks on PJAK bases in Iranian territory, penetration into Iraqi Kurdistan territory, bombing of PJAK associated bases and villages in Kurdish controlled Iraqi areas and direct targeting of Kurdish guerrilla command in Qandil mountains. The clashes resulted in dozens killed and wounded on both sides, with hundreds of displaced Kurdish villagers. The exact numbers of casualties on each side are a matter of controversy.
The insurgency by the Kurdish Democratic Party of Iran surged in 1989, lasting until 1996, as part of the Kurdish separatism struggle. The eruption of the conflict in July 1989 was caused by the assassination of KDPI leader Abdul Rahman Qassemlou by suspected Iranian government agents. The most violent episodes took place in 1990 and 1991, when Kurdish soldiers launched massive attacks on Iranian military bases in Kurdish areas of Iran. This brought heavy retaliation from the Iranian government, aiming to eradicate the KDPI leadership by assassinating Sadegh Sharafkandi and other KDPI leaders in 1992 in order to disable the Kurdish party's ability to function. The conflict faded with the effective targeted assassination policy of Iran and by 1996 KDPI was no longer able to function militarily and announced a unilateral ceasefire. The conflict claimed hundreds of lives, mostly Iranian government troops and Kurdish militants.
The June 2012 Hakkari clashes were a series of clashes between the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and the Turkish Army near Şemdinli in Hakkâri Province in southeastern Turkey and northern Iraq. The clashes began on June 19, with a coordinated PKK attack on a Turkish Army post in Yuksekova town near the Iraq-Turkey border. On July 20–21, the PKK made an attempt to capture territory in Şemdinli, resulting in a Turkish counter-offensive which, according to Turkish security forces, resulted in eight Turkish security forces and 130 Kurdish militants killed. The Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK) recorded over 400 incidents of shelling, air bombardment and other armed clashes during August 2012. The events were described as the "heaviest fighting in Turkey in years".
The Ezidkhan Command for Liberating Sinjar, known as the Sinjar Alliance, is a joint command of two - initially three - Yazidi militias, the Sinjar Resistance Units (YBŞ), and the Êzîdxan Women's Units (YJÊ). Both of the remaining two militias are supported by the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).
The 2015–2016 Şırnak clashes were a series of armed clashes in the southeastern Şırnak province, between Turkish government forces and Kurdish armed groups, as part of the Turkish–Kurdish conflict.
2016–present clashes in West Iran refers to the ongoing military clashes between Kurdish insurgent party Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (PDKI) and the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, which began in April 2016. Kurdistan Freedom Party (PAK) and Komalah expressed their support to the Kurdish cause of PDKI as well, with both clashing with Iranian security forces in 2016 and 2017 respectively. In parallel, a leftist Iranian Kurdish rebel group PJAK resumed military activities against Iran in 2016, following a long period of stalemate.
Terrorism in Turkey is a significant issue for Turkish authorities. Most terrorist attacks in Turkey have occurred in the southeastern and eastern provinces, and major cities like Ankara and Istanbul. The group Dev-Genç was founded in 1969 and involved in a string of kidnappings, bombings and bank robberies until martial law was declared in 1971. While these incidents were halted by 1973, attacks by the Armenian groups Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia (ASALA) and Justice Commandos of the Armenian Genocide (JCAG) continued. Most of these attacks took place internationally, though there were some attacks within Turkey as well. For example, the May 1977 bombing of the Istanbul airport and the Ankara Esenboğa Airport attack. In Turkey protesting for Kurdish rights or supporting or demanding education in the Kurdish language is often also seen as supporting terrorism of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).
Ferhat Abdi Şahin (born 1967 in Kobani, Syria is better known by his nom de guerreMazloum Abdi and his previous nom de guerreŞahin Cilo, is a Syrian Kurdish military leader, serving as the commander-in-chief of the Syrian Democratic Forces.
The Makhmur refugee camp, which was founded in 1998, is located in the Makhmur District, Iraq. About 12,000 Kurdish refugees, who fled the civil war between Kurds and the Turkish army in the 1990s, live in this refugee camp. The refugees and their descendants stem from the depopulated Kurdish villages in Turkey. The Turkish authorities claim they had to depopulate the villages as they have been infiltrated by PKK militants.
PUK (1992) [1] [2] 
