Editing Kurdistan Workers' Party (section)

=== 1990s ===
From the mid-1990s, the organization began to lose [[History of the Kurdistan Workers' Party#Paramilitary II (1993–1995)|the upper hand in its operations]] as a consequence of a change of tactics by Turkey and Syria's steady abandonment of support for the group. The group also had lost its support from [[Saddam Hussein]].<ref>{{cite web |title=After Saddam Hussein – 92.12 |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/past/docs/unbound/flashbks/kurds/mylroie.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190118211814/https://www.theatlantic.com/past/docs/unbound/flashbks/kurds/mylroie.htm |archive-date=18 January 2019 |access-date=27 December 2018 |website=The Atlantic}}</ref> As during the international operation Poised Hammer the collaboration between Barzani and Turkey embittered, the situation for the PKK became even more difficult, with Barzani condemning terrorist attacks by the PKK during a Newroz festival.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Gunter |first=Michael M. |author-link=Michael Gunter |date=1993 |title=A de facto Kurdish State in Northern Iraq |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3992569 |journal=Third World Quarterly |volume=14 |issue=2 |page=303 |doi=10.1080/01436599308420326 |issn=0143-6597 |jstor=3992569}}</ref> At the same time, the Turkish government started to use more violent methods to counter Kurdish militants. After in 1992 a high-profile Turkish Delegation visited Damascus, the Syrian Government seemed to have ordered the closure of the PKK camp in the Bekaa valley and told the PKK to keep a low profile for some time.<ref>{{Cite web |last=van Bruinessen |first=Martin |date=25 February 2009 |title=Turkey, Europe and the Kurds after the capture of Abdullah Öcalan |url=http://www.let.uu.nl/~martin.vanbruinessen/personal/publications/Kurds_after_capture_Ocalan.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090225152612/http://www.let.uu.nl/~martin.vanbruinessen/personal/publications/Kurds_after_capture_Ocalan.pdf |archive-date=25 February 2009 |access-date=9 May 2023 |page=3}}</ref>

In March 1993 Öcalan, in presence of PUK leader [[Jalal Talabani]] declared a [[1993 Kurdistan Workers' Party ceasefire|unilateral ceasefire]] for a month in order to facilitate peace negotiations with Turkey. At an other press conference which took place on 16 April 1993 in [[Barelias|Bar Elias]], Lebanon, the ceasefire was prolonged indefinitely. To this event, the Kurdish politicians Jamal Talabani, [[Ahmet Türk]] from the [[People's Labor Party]] (HEP)  and also [[Kemal Burkay]] also attended and declared their support for the ceasefire.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Özcan |first=Ali Kemal |title=Turkey's Kurds: A Theoretical Analysis of the PKK and Abdullah Ocalan |publisher=Routledge |year=2006 |isbn=978-0415366878 |page=205 |language=en}}</ref> The ceasefire ended after the Turkish army killed 13 PKK members in [[Kulp, Turkey|Kulp]], [[Diyarbakır Province|Diyarbakir province]] in May 1993.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Gunes |first=Cengiz |title=The Kurdish National Movement in Turkey: From Protest to Resistance |publisher=Routledge |year=2013 |isbn=978-1136587986 |page=133 |language=en}}</ref>

The fighting and violence augmented significantly following the [[1993 Turkish presidential election|presidential elections of June 1993]] after which [[Tansu Çiller]] was elected prime minister.<ref name=":3">Gunes, Cengiz (2013), p. 134</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Randal |first=Jonathan C. |title=After Such Knowledge, what Forgiveness?: My Encounters with Kurdistan |date=1997 |publisher=Farrar, Straus and Giroux |isbn=978-0374102005 |pages=302–303 |language=en}}</ref> In December 1995 the PKK announced another unilateral ceasefire to give a new Government an opportunity to articulate a more peaceful approach towards the conflict. The government elected in December 1995 did not initiate negotiations and kept on evacuating Kurdish populated villages. Despite the violent approach of the Government to the ceasefire, it was upheld by the PKK until August 1996.<ref name=":3" /> Turkey was involved in serious human rights violations during the 1990s.

From 1996 to 1999, the organization began to use suicide bombers, VBIED, and ambush attacks against military and police bases. The role of suicide bombers, especially female ones were encouraged and mythologised by giving them the status of a "goddess of freedom", and shown as role models for other women after their death. On 30 July 1996, [[Zeynep Kınacı]], a female PKK fighter, carried out the organization's first suicide attack, killing 8 soldiers and injuring 29 others. The attacks against the civilians, especially the Kurdish citizens who refused to cooperate with them were also reported at the same years. On 20 January 1999, a report published by [[Human Rights Watch|HRW]], stated that the PKK was reported to have been responsible for more than 768 executions. The organization had also reportedly committed 25 massacres, killing more than 300 people. More than a hundred victims were children and women.<ref name="auto1">{{cite web |date=20 January 1999 |title=Rights Group Decries Missed Opportunity to Prosecute PKK Leader |url=https://www.hrw.org/news/1999/01/20/rights-group-decries-missed-opportunity-prosecute-pkk-leader |access-date=27 December 2018 |website=Human Rights Watch}}</ref><ref name="pape-2005">{{cite book |last1=Pape |first1=Robert |url=https://archive.org/details/dyingtowinstrate00pape |title=Dying to Win: The Strategic Logic of Suicide Terrorism |date=2005 |publisher=Random House |isbn=1588364607 |url-access=registration}}</ref><ref name="alakoc-2007">{{cite book |last1=Alakoc |first1=Burcu |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_IcZUMS_Y2kC&pg=PA4 |title=The Motivations of Female Suicide Bombers from a Communication Perspective |date=2007 |isbn=978-0549422532 |page=4}}{{Dead link|date=February 2023|bot=InternetArchiveBot|fix-attempted=yes}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Gunes |first1=Cengiz |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oVT7AAAAQBAJ&q=zilan+suicide+attack&pg=PT118 |title=The Kurdish Question in Turkey: New Perspectives on Violence, Representation and Reconciliation |last2=Zeydanlioglu |first2=Welat |publisher=Routledge |year=2013 |isbn=978-1135140717 |access-date=27 December 2018 |via=Google Books}}</ref>{{excessive citations inline|date=October 2024}}

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, in an effort to win increased support from the Kurdish peasantry, the PKK altered its leftist secular ideology to better accommodate and accept Islamic beliefs. The group also abandoned its previous strategy of attacking Kurdish and Turkish civilians who were against them, focusing instead on government and military targets.<ref name="miptpkkmain">{{cite web |title=Group Profile: Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) |url=http://www.tkb.org/Group.jsp?groupID=63 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080109074852/http://www.tkb.org/Group.jsp?groupID=63 |archive-date=9 January 2008 |access-date=17 April 2007 |work=[[MIPT Terrorism Knowledge Base]]}}</ref> In its campaign, the organization has been criticized of carrying out atrocities against both Turkish and Kurdish civilians and its actions have been criticised by human rights groups such as [[Amnesty International]]<ref>{{cite web |title=No Security Without Human Rights |url=http://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6a9ea0.html |access-date=26 September 2017 |publisher=Amnesty International}}</ref> and [[Human Rights Watch]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Turkey and War in Iraq: Avoiding Past Patterns of Violation |url=https://www.hrw.org/legacy/backgrounder/eca/turkey/turkey_violations.htm |access-date=26 September 2017 |website=Human Rights Watch}}</ref>  Similar actions of the Turkish state have also been criticized by these same groups. The ECHR has investigated Turkey for executions of Kurdish civilians, torturing, forced displacements and massive arrests.<ref>{{Cite web |last=de Graaf |first=Sophie |date=27 November 2020 |title=Joint statement concerning the killing of Tahir Elçi and lack of effective investigation into his death |url=https://lawyersforlawyers.org/en/joint-statement-concerning-the-killing-of-tahir-elci-and-lack-of-effective-investigation-into-his-death/ |access-date=9 May 2023 |website=Lawyers for Lawyers |language=nl}}</ref> In 1998 Turkey increased the pressure on Syria and ended its support for the PKK.<ref name="antiwar">{{cite news |last=Suri |first=Sanjay |author-link=Sanjay Suri |date=11 May 2005 |title=Torture and Oppression of Kurds in Syria |url=http://www.antiwar.com/ips/suri.php?articleid=5142 |publisher=antiwar.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Inside the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) |url=https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/inside-kurdistan-workers-party-pkk |access-date=27 December 2018 |website=Council on Foreign Relations}}</ref><ref>Marcus, Aliza (2012). p. 271</ref> The leader of the organization, Abdullah Öcalan, was captured, [[Trial of Abdullah Öcalan|prosecuted and sentenced to death]], but this was later commuted to life imprisonment as part of the government's seeking [[Accession of Turkey to the European Union|European Union membership]].<ref>[[UNESCO]]. 2002. "[http://portal.unesco.org/es/ev.php-URL_ID=6606&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html Death penalty abolished in Turkey] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090629011049/http://portal.unesco.org/es/ev.php-URL_ID%3D6606%26URL_DO%3DDO_TOPIC%26URL_SECTION%3D201.html|date=29 June 2009}}". The new Courier n°1.</ref>