The history of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) began in 1974 as a Marxist–Leninist organization under the leadership of Abdullah Öcalan. In 1978 the organization adopted the name "Kurdistan Workers Party" and waged its low-level Urban War in Turkish Kurdistan between 1978 and 1980. The PKK restructured itself and moved the organization structure to Syria between 1980 and 1984, after the 1980 Turkish coup d'état. The Kurdish-Turkish conflict began in earnest in 1984. The rural-based insurgency lasted between 1984 and 1992. The PKK shifted its activities to include urban attacks against Turkish military bases between 1993–1995 and later 1996–1999. Öcalan was captured in Kenya in early 1999. After a "self-declared peace initiative of 1999", hostilities resumed in February 2004. 2013 saw another ceasefire, but the conflict resumed again in 2015 and has continued since.
Since 1978, the PKK has been able to evolve and adapt, having gone through a metamorphosis, which became the main factor in its survival. It has gradually grown from a handful of political students to an armed organization of thousands.
Origin
The PKK's origins can be traced back to 1974, when Abdullah Öcalan ("Apo") and a small group of leftist students from the Revolutionary Youth Federation of Turkey (Dev-Genç) decided to develop a Kurdish-based left-wing organization. The members of this new, small organization actively participated in different branches of Dev-Genç. In 1971, Öcalan joined the underground movements trying to overthrow the government system, which he saw as oppressive and fascist, while he was a student at the Ankara University Political Sciences Faculty. Öcalan was also sympathetic with the People's Liberation Party of Turkey (THKO)., As a result of the military coup of 1971, many militants of the revolutionary had to go underground; movements like the People's Liberation Army of Turkey (THKO) or the Communist Party of Turkey/Marxist–Leninist (TKP-ML) were cracked down upon and forbidden. After this, several of the political actors of the Turkish left organized away from the public in university dorms or in meetings in shared apartments. In 1972-1973 the organization's core ideological group was made up largely of students led by Abdullah Öcalan ("Apo") in Ankara who made themselves known as the Kurdistan Revolutionaries. The new group focused on the oppressed Kurdish population of Turkish Kurdistan in a capitalist world. Öcalan used the social networks that he developed during this period to become a leader. Like Dev-Genç, Apocus was a splinter organization.
What made Apocus, later PKK, different was that it decided to move its activities from Ankara, the capital city of Turkey, to Turkish Kurdistan, near the Syria-Turkey border. Unlike most Kurdish political parties, which adopted a rather conservative outlook and were organized around tribal leaders and structures, Apocus had a fierce stance, strong convictions, and a disciplined but decentralized organization which contributed to a steady rise and growing effectiveness Much of the early development was inspired by the rise of decolonization movements and their potential to be adapted to the Kurdish question.
Apocular (1974–1978)
The core of the organization established with 16 members, led by political science student Öcalan, later to be his wife Kesire Yildirim, Cemil Bayik, Baki Karer, Kemal Pir, Mehmet Sevgat, Mehmet Karasungur and ten other members with the name Ankara Democratic Association of Higher Education (ADYÖD). The organization was located in Ankara. During this period, Öcalan and his supporters were generally known as Apocus, in Turkish "Apocular". Today, there are only a few still living or following the cause, a result of a combination of factors, including disputes internal to the PKK.
Although originally based in Ankara, Öcalan decided that there was a better base in south-east Turkey. Öcalan recognized that he can organize and build a secure base to perform activities by using the tribal system in the region. He focused on tribes that are not historically coexisting peacefully with the government. Thus, Öcalan focused much of his attention from 1976–78 to building a PKK structure in that region. It was a secret organization, but deciphered by Turkish Intelligence in 1977.
On May 18, 1977, Haki Karer, who belonged to small group of confidants, a housemate of Öcalan, not a Kurd but a Turk from Ordu, was dispatched to Gaziantep to recruit new members. He was involved in a political discussion with another left Kurdish faction called Sterka Sor (Red Star) in a coffee shop. He was killed in Gaziantep, allegedly by members of the Kurdish group Sterka Sor. This was the first resistance against Apocular by a rival Kurdish group. From that moment Apocular become more careful, strict and violent. In the party's historiography, the death of Haki Karer is related to the decision to deepen and strengthen the struggle.
On 27 November 1978, during a meeting in a village called Fis, in the district of Lice, north of Diyarbakir, it was decided to form a political party. The name of the party, Partiya Karkerên Kurdistanê was decided on later, in April 1979, when the meeting of the central committee. The meeting in Fis later got to be remembered as the First Congress of the PKK. 24 people were invited of which 22 attended. It was decided that the people present at the meeting, together with former revolutionaries who died, were to be the first members of the party. Elected as General Secretary was Öcalan, and as members of the Central Executive Committee Mehmet Karasunğur and Sahin Dönmez. Karasungur was also elected as the responsible for the armed resistance. The ideological footprints during this period was detailed in the proclamation. The official release of the "Proclamation of Independence of PKK", a document, stated that primary objective was to foster a communist revolution in Turkey. The group did not claim to be secessionist in this document. They wanted a proletarian revolution inspired by the ideas of Marxism that aims to replace capitalism with communism. The group attracted many oppressed Kurdish students.
Urban War (1978–1980)
Starting in 1978, the organization attacked groups that they perceived as "fascist" and pro-government. The PKK focused its attacks primarily against perceived state collaborators, and Kurdish tribes that had historically coexisted with the government and haven't supported the Kurdish rights.
In 1979 Mehmet Celal Bucak a high-ranking member of the conservative Justice Party (AP) was condemned for "exploiting the peasants", and "collaborating with government" against the Kurdish right. PKK decided to use fighting against the landlords in Hilvan and Siverek to show up its nationalism ideology. PKK failed in its attempt to assassinate . This was the first known activity by the PKK. The planned assassination was an example of propaganda-of-the-deed.
On November 28, 1979, the first response of the government was performed. Turkey did not know the name PKK but listed the organization with its old name Apocular. 242 members of this organization were captured at Hilvan and Siverek residences. Bucak tribe became an enemy to PKK and from 1979 to 1991, the Bucak tribe lost 140 members to clashes with the PKK.
In two years, the country turned into a battleground. From 1978 to 1982, the Turkish National Security Council recorded approximately 43,000 incidents it described as "terrorism". The overall number of death people of the 1970s is estimated at 5,000 including civilians.Gil, Ata. "La Turquie à marche forcée," Le Monde diplomatique, February 1981. With the 1980 assassination of a former prime minister, Nihat Erim who was assassinated by radical Turkish leftist organization Dev Sol, the discovery of gun depots, civil disorder, political indecision (parliament was unable to select a president) and, most importantly, the Iran–Iraq War, a coup took place, initiating a series of trials. In the central trial, against the left-wing organization Devrimci Yol (Revolutionary Path) at Ankara Military Court, the defendants listed 5,388 political killings before the military coup. Among the victims were 1,296 right wingers and 2,109 left-wingers. The others could not clearly be related.Devrimci Yol Savunması (Defense of the Revolutionary Path). Ankara, January 1989, pp. 118–119. In this period, the number of deaths attributed to the PKK was approximately 240. Many right-wing organizations saw the PKK as a threat to their existence. The military tribunals of the 1980 coup which tried 7,000 people revealed a recorded 5,241 dead and 14,152 wounded from 1979 to 1980. The PKK made up 21% of the total 5,241 caseload.
Following imprisonment, the captured PKK members set up an elaborate resistance organization that would operate even behind bars. This organization became famous for their hunger strikes. They also smuggled in guns and communication equipment into prison. Recruitment and training became commonplace for imprisoned PKK members.
All through this time, Öcalan eluded capture and remained in control. He fled the country towards Syria in 1979. Even before the coup, Öcalan knew that he had to restructure the PKK to continue its activities. In 1979, when Öcalan moved to the Bekaa valley in Lebanon, he had chance to develop his connection from where Dev-Genç left. His initial accommodations were covered through the already established Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia (ASALA) structure and Fatah camps, in part of ex-Syrian-controlled Lebanon. Until 1999 Syria had provided valuable safe havens to the organization in the region of Beqaa Valley.
Syria (1980–1984) On 10 November 1980, the PKK bombed the Turkish consulate in Strasbourg, France, in a joint operation with the ASALA, which they described as the beginning of a "fruitful collaboration" in a statement claiming responsibility. It was alleged that Soviet Armenian KGB officer Karen Brutents was behind the militant structure that was adapted by PKK and methods used by ASALA. Since pro-Soviet Armenians had participated in the founding of an anti-Turkish Kurdish party already in 1927, the theories, arguments, propaganda methods and activity structures were well established. According to the former KGB-FSB officer Alexander Litvinenko, who was assassinated in 2006, PKK's Öcalan was trained by KGB-FSB. Besides, Öcalan managed to compel Qais Abd al Karim, the leader of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP), to support the military training of PKK militants in Lebanon. In the early 1980s, some 300 PKK militants were provided with education in guerilla warfare.Marcus, Aliza (2012). p. 57 With time, similar agreements were met with the Fatah of Yassir Arafat or the Palestinian Popular Struggle Front (PPSF) of Samir Ghawshah. In the early 1980s, some 300 PKK militants were provided with education in guerilla warfare. An alliance was also reached with Masoud Barzani's KDP, who permitted the PKK to operate in the valleys of the Lolan region in Iraqi Kurdistan close to the borders to Iran and Turkey.Marcus, Aliza (2012). p. 70