Editing Kurdistan Workers' Party (section)

===Political representation===
[[File:Hdp2015secim.png|thumb|275px|Percentage of the popular vote won by the pro-Kurdish [[Peoples' Democratic Party (Turkey)|Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP)]] in the [[June 2015 Turkish general election|2015 Turkish general election]]. According to Egemen Bezci and Nicholas Borroz, "[t]he HDP's elections results . . . are a proxy indicator of popular support for the PKK".<ref>{{cite web|last1=Bezci|first1=Egemen|last2=Borroz|first2=Nicholas|date=22 September 2015|title=The renewed Turkey-PKK conflict has shattered the illusion that Kurds can participate legitimately in Turkey's political system|work=EUROPP |url=http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/europpblog/2015/09/22/the-renewed-turkey-pkk-conflict-has-shattered-the-illusion-that-kurds-can-participate-legitimately-in-turkeys-political-system/|publisher=[[London School of Economics]]}}</ref>]]The PKK could count on support from protests and [[Demonstration (protest)|demonstrations]] often directed against policies of the Turkish government.<ref name=":13">{{Cite web|last=Ünaldı|first=Gönenç|date=21 October 2014|title=Democratic representation of pro-Kurdish political parties in Turkey|url=https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/can-europe-make-it/democratic-representation-of-prokurdish-political-parties-in-turkey/|access-date=6 December 2021|website=openDemocracy|language=en}}</ref> The PKK also fought a turf war against other radical Islamist Kurdish and Turkish organizations in Turkey. Turkish newspapers said that the PKK effectively used the prison force to gain appeal among the population which PKK has denied.<ref name=":4">{{cite news|date=3 December 2007|title=Eski Dışişleri Bakanı Hikmet Çetin: PKK'nın temeli 12 Eylül'de atıldı|language=tr|work=[[Zaman (newspaper)|Zaman]]|agency=[[Cihan News Agency]]|url=http://www.zaman.com.tr/haber.do?haberno=620819|url-status=dead|access-date=9 July 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090114072107/http://www.zaman.com.tr/haber.do?haberno=620819|archive-date=14 January 2009|quote=PKK aslında nereden şiddetle çıktı. Bana göre Diyarbakır Cezaevi'nden, 12 Eylül'den sonra çıktı. Yani ortam, orada hazırlandı. Çıkış yeri orası. Orada işkenceden insanlar öldü. Sakat kalanlar Avrupa'ya gitti. Öyle bir ortamda.}}</ref><ref name=":5">Immigration Appeals: 2nd – 3rd Quarter (2004), by Great Britain Immigration Appeal Tribunal</ref>

==== Alleged political representation ====
{{Main|Kurdish Political Movement in Turkey}}
The organization had sympathizer parties in the [[Grand National Assembly of Turkey]] since the beginning of the early 1990s. The existence of direct links between the parties and the PKK have several times been a question in Turkish politics but also in Turkish and European courts.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Party for a Democratic Society (DTP) and Others v. Turkey |url=https://www.eods.eu/elex/uploads/files/5c863bfe20ad6-Party%20for%20a%20Democratic%20Society%20(DTP)%20and%20Others%20v.%20Turkey.pdf |access-date=6 December 2021 |website=[[European Court of Human Rights]]}}</ref><ref name=":13" /> In sequence [[People's Labor Party|HEP]]/[[Democracy Party (Turkey)|DEP]]/[[People's Democracy Party|HADEP]]/[[Democratic People's Party (Turkey)|DEHAP]]/[[Democratic Society Party|DTP]] and the [[Peace and Democracy Party (Turkey)|BDP]], which later changed its name to [[Democratic Regions Party]] (DBP) on 11 July 2014,<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.evrensel.net/haber/88097/bdpnin-adi-demokratik-bolgeler-partisi-oldu |title=BDP'nin adı Demokratik Bölgeler Partisi oldu|date=11 July 2014|newspaper=[[Evrensel]]|access-date=24 February 2015}}</ref> as well as the [[Peoples' Democratic Party (Turkey)|HDP]] and then [[Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party|DEM]] have been criticized of sympathizing with the PKK, since they have refused to brand it as a terrorist group.

Political organizations established in Turkey are banned from propagating or supporting separatism. Several political parties supporting Kurdish rights have been reportedly banned on this pretext. The constitutional court stated to find direct links between the [[People's Labor Party|HEP]]/[[Democracy Party (Turkey)|DEP]]/[[People's Democracy Party|HADEP]] and the PKK. In 2007 against the [[Democratic Society Party closure case|DTP was initiated a closure case]] before the [[Constitutional Court of Turkey|constitutional court]]<ref name=":12">{{Cite web|date=11 December 2009|title=Turkey: Kurdish Party Banned|url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2009/12/11/turkey-kurdish-party-banned|access-date=1 December 2021|website=[[Human Rights Watch]]|language=en}}</ref> which resulted in its closure on 11 December 2009.<ref name=":52">{{Cite news|last=Strittmatter|first=Kai|date=17 May 2010|title=Verfassungsgericht verbietet Kurdenpartei|url=https://www.sueddeutsche.de/politik/tuerkei-dtp-partei-verfassungsgericht-verbietet-kurdenpartei-1.134783|access-date=28 November 2021|website=[[Süddeutsche Zeitung]]|language=de}}</ref> In 2021, against the [[2021 Peoples' Democratic Party closure case|HDP was also initiated a closure case]] during which the HDP is accused of being linked to the PKK.<ref>{{Cite web|date=18 March 2021|title=Prosecutor's indictment notes no difference between HDP, PKK|url=https://www.dailysabah.com/politics/legislation/prosecutors-indictment-notes-no-difference-between-hdp-pkk|access-date=4 December 2021|website=[[Daily Sabah]]|language=en-US}}</ref> It is reported that Turkey has used the PKK as an excuse to close Kurdish political parties. Senior DTP leaders maintained that they support a unified Turkey within a democratic framework. In May 2007, the co-president of DTP [[Aysel Tuğluk]], published an article in ''[[Radikal]]'' in support of this policy.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.radikal.com.tr/ek_haber.php?ek=r2&haberno=7097|title=Sevr travması ve Kürtlerin empatisi|work=[[Radikal]]|date=27 May 2007|first=Aysel|last=Tuğluk|access-date=28 August 2008|language=tr|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090303182354/http://www.radikal.com.tr/ek_haber.php?ek=r2&haberno=7097|archive-date=3 March 2009}}</ref>

Several parliamentarians and other elected representatives have been jailed for speaking in Kurdish, carrying Kurdish colors or otherwise allegedly "promoting separatism", most famous among them being [[Leyla Zana]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.hurriyet.com.tr/gundem/6916207.asp?gid=180|title=Önderimiz 99'da İmralı'daydı|access-date=19 July 2007|language=tr|work=[[Hürriyet Daily News]]|quote="in 99 our leader <nowiki>[</nowiki>Abdullah Öcalan, leader of the PKK<nowiki>]</nowiki> was in [[İmralı]]" which led the crowd to chant "Long live Chairman Apo" ({{langx|ku-Latn|Bijî Serok Apo}}) the nickname of Öcalan.}}</ref> The [[European Court of Human Rights]] has condemned Turkey for arresting and executing Kurdish writers, journalists and politicians in numerous occasions. Between 1990 and 2006 Turkey was condemned to pay €33 million in damages in 567 cases. The majority of the cases were related to events that took place in southeastern Anatolia.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.todayszaman.com/newsDetail_getNewsById.action?load=detay&link=151355|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120606143652/http://www.todayszaman.com/newsDetail_getNewsById.action?load=detay&link=151355|url-status=dead|archive-date=6 June 2012|title=JİTEM's illegal actions cost Turkey a fortune|date=6 June 2012|access-date=27 December 2018}}</ref> In Iraq the political party Tevgera Azadî is said to have close to the PKK.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2018/12/turkey-iraqi-kurdistan-puk-puts-pressure-on-pkk.html|title=Iraqi Kurdish party pushes PKK aside|last=Bozarslan|first=Mahmut|date=8 December 2018|website=Al-Monitor|language=en|access-date=12 January 2019}}</ref>