Editing Kurdistan Workers' Party (section)

=== 2000s ===
The [[European Court of Human Rights]] has condemned Turkey for human rights abuses during the conflict.<ref name="ETCHR1">{{cite news |title=European Court of Human Rights: Turkey Ranks First in Violations in between 1959–2011 |url=http://bianet.org/english/human-rights/138337-turkey-ranks-first-in-violations-in-between-1959-2011 |access-date=29 December 2015 |work=Bianet}}</ref><ref name="AnnualETCHR">{{cite report |url=http://echr.coe.int/Documents/Annual_Report_2014_ENG.pdf |title=Annual report |date=2014 |issue=The European Court of Human Rights |access-date=29 December 2015}}</ref> Some judgements are related to executions of Kurdish civilians,<ref name="hum1">{{cite report |url=http://hudoc.echr.coe.int/app/conversion/pdf/?library=ECHR&id=001-128036&filename=001-128036.pdf |title=The European Court of Human Rights: Case of Benzer and others v. Turkey |date=24 March 2014 |page=57 |access-date=29 December 2015}}</ref> torturing,<ref name="tort1">{{cite book |url=http://www.echr.coe.int/LibraryDocs/HR%20handbooks/handbook06_en.pdf |title=The prohibition of torture |date=2003 |pages=11, 13 |access-date=29 December 2015 |issue=Torturing}}</ref> forced displacements,<ref>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/humanrightswatch00huma_0 |title=Human Rights Watch |publisher=Human Rights Watch |year=1998 |isbn=978-1564321909 |page=[https://archive.org/details/humanrightswatch00huma_0/page/7 7] |url-access=registration}}</ref> destroyed villages,<ref>{{cite book |last1=McKiernan |first1=Kevin |url=https://archive.org/details/kurdspeopleinsea00mcki |title=The Kurds: a people in search of their homeland |date=2006 |publisher=St. Martin's Press |isbn=0312325460 |edition=1st |location=New York |page=[https://archive.org/details/kurdspeopleinsea00mcki/page/130 130] |url-access=registration}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Neuberger |first1=Benyamin |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=caCDBAAAQBAJ |title=Kurdish awakening : nation building in a fragmented homeland |date=2014 |publisher=Univ of Texas Press |isbn=978-0292758131 |editor1-last=Bengio |editor1-first=Ofra |location=[S.l.] |page=27}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Gunes |first1=Cengiz |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UVn7AAAAQBAJ |title=The Kurdish question in Turkey : new perspectives on violence, representation, and reconciliation |last2=Zeydanlioğlu |first2=Welat |date=2014 |publisher=Taylor and Francis |isbn=978-1135140632 |location=Hoboken |page=98}}</ref> [[Arbitrary arrest and detention|arbitrary arrests]],<ref>{{cite journal |title=Police arrest and assistance of a lawyer |url=http://www.echr.coe.int/Documents/FS_Police_arrest_ENG.pdf |website=Echr.coe.int}}</ref> murdered and disappeared Kurdish journalists, activists and politicians.<ref>{{cite news |title=Justice Comes from European Court for a Kurdish Journalist |url=http://www.khrp.org/khrp-news/news-archive/2000-news/189-justice-comes-from-european-court-for-a-murdered-kurdish-journalist.html |access-date=1 January 2016 |website=Khrp.org}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Whitman |first1=Lois |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Pyz9fz6il38C |title=The Kurds of Turkey: killings, disappearances and torture |date=1993 |publisher=Human Rights Watch |isbn=1564320960 |editor1-last=Laber |editor1-first=Jeri |location=New York}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Panico |first1=Christopher |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TqXjX8ZSH6kC |title=Turkey : violations of free expression in Turkey. |date=1999 |publisher=Human Rights Watch |isbn=1564322262 |location=New York |pages=37–38}}</ref> As a result of increasing Kurdish population and activism, the Turkish parliament began a controlled process of dismantling some anti-Kurdish legislation, using the term "normalization" or "rapprochement", depending on the sides of the issue. It partially relaxed the bans on broadcasting and publishing in the [[Kurdish languages|Kurdish language]], although significant barriers remain.<ref name="Ibrahim2000">{{cite book |author=Ferhad Ibrahim, Gülistan Gürbey |url=https://archive.org/details/kurdishconflicti0000unse |title=The Kurdish Conflict in Turkey: Obstacles and Chances for Peace and Democracy |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |year=2000 |isbn=0312236298 |url-access=registration}}{{Page needed|date=September 2010}}</ref> At the same time, the PKK was blacklisted in many countries. On 2 April 2004, the [[Council of the European Union]] added the PKK to its list of terrorist organizations. Later that year, the [[United States Department of the Treasury|US Treasury]] moved to freeze assets of branches of the organization. The PKK went through a series of changes, and in 2003 it ended the unilateral truce declared when Öcalan was captured.<ref>{{cite news |date=2 September 2003 |title=Kurdish rebels abandon truce |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/3200907.stm |access-date=1 September 2007 |publisher=BBC}}</ref>

==== Cease fire 1999–2004 ====
The third phase (1999–2012), after the capture of Öcalan, PKK reorganized itself and new leaders were chosen by its members. The organization made radical changes to survive, such as changing its ideology and setting new goals. During the 7th Party congress in January 2000, the former military wing the Peoples Liberation Army of Kurdistan (''Artêşa Rizgariya Gelê Kurdistan'' – ARGK) was succeeded by the People's Defense Forces (''[[People's Defence Forces|Hêzên Parastina Gel]] –''  HPG) and also declared that it wanted to aim for a democratic solution for the conflict.<ref name=":2">{{cite book |last1=White |first1=Paul |title=The PKK |date=2015 |publisher=Zed Books |isbn=978-1783600373 |location=London |page=19}}</ref> At the same time, the PKK continued to recruit new members and sustain its fighting force.

According to Paul White, in April 2002, the PKK changed its name to the ''Kurdistan Freedom and Democracy Congress (KADEK)'' and proclaimed a commitment to nonviolent activities.<ref name=":2" /> A PKK/KADEK spokesman stated that its armed wing, the HPG, would not disband or surrender its weapons for reasons of self-defense. This statement by the PKK/KADEK avowing it would not lay down its arms underscores that the organization maintained its capability to carry out armed operations. PKK/KADEK established a new ruling council in April, its membership virtually identical to the PKK's Presidential Council. The PKK/KADEK did not conduct an armed attack in 2002; however, the group periodically issued veiled threats that it will resume violence if the conditions of its imprisoned leader are not improved and its forces are attacked by Turkish military, and it continued its military training like before.

In November 2003, another congress was held which lead to renaming itself as the ''People's Congress of Kurdistan'' or ''Kongra-Gel (KGK)''. The stated purpose of the organizational change was to leave behind nationalistic and state-building goals, in favor of creating a political structure to work within the existing nation-states.<ref name="PKK in the 2000s p149">{{cite book |last1=Akkaya |first1=Ahmet Hamdi |title=Nationalisms and Politics in Turkey: Political Islam, Kemalism and the Kurdish Issue |last2=Jongerden |first2=Joost |date=2010 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1136938672 |editor1-last=Casier |editor1-first=Marlies |page=149 |chapter=The PKK in the 2000s: Continuity through Breaks? |editor2-last=Jongerden |editor2-first=Joost}}</ref> Through further internal conflict during this period, it is reported that 1500 militants left the organization,<ref name="PKK in the 2000s p149" /> along with many of the leading reformists, including [[Nizamettin Taş]] and [[Abdullah Öcalan]]'s younger brother [[Osman Öcalan]].<ref name="Cemil Bayik">{{Cite web |last=Uslu |first=Emrullah |date=20 May 2008 |title=Leading PKK Commander Cemil Bayik Crosses into Iran |url=https://jamestown.org/program/leading-pkk-commander-cemil-bayik-crosses-into-iran/ |access-date=16 March 2021 |website=Jamestown |language=en-US}}</ref>

==== Second insurgency 2004–2006 ====
Kongra-Gel called off the cease-fire at the start of June 2004, saying Turkish security forces had refused to respect the truce. Turkish security forces were increasingly involved in clashes with Kurdish separatist fighters. Ankara stated that about 2,000 Kurdish fighters had crossed into Turkey from hideouts in mountainous northern Iraq in early June 2004.

While the fight against the Turkish security forces between 2004 and 2010 continued, the PKK and its ancillary organizations continued to enjoy substantial support among the Kurds of Turkey. In 2005, the original name of the organization ''PKK'' was restored, while the Kongra-Gel became the legislature of the Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK).<ref>[http://www.kurdishaspect.com/doc042910ZA.html Zübeyir Aydar: 'Military operations are going to begin'] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110103184948/http://kurdishaspect.com/doc042910ZA.html|date=3 January 2011}}; Interview in English dated 29 April 2010. In this interview Zübeyir Aydar stated: "''KCK has an assembly. This assembly is Kongra-Gel. Furthermore, within Kongra-Gel there's an elected executive council... The PKK is a limited segment within the movement which is given the name KCK. Abdullah Öcalan takes the highest position. After that there's the Assembly, and following that the Executive Council. The chairman of the 31-member Executive Council is Murat Karayılan''."</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Gunter. |first1=Michael M. |title=Kongra-Gel |url=http://kurds_history.enacademic.com/300/Kongra-Gel |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171002223146/http://kurds_history.enacademic.com/300/Kongra-Gel |archive-date=2 October 2017 |access-date=23 May 2019 |website=Historical Dictionary of the Kurds |publisher=Academic Dictionaries and Encyclopedias}}</ref> Turkey's struggle against the Kongra-Gel/PKK was marked by increased clashes across Turkey in 2005. In the southeast, Turkish security forces were active in the struggle against the Kongra-Gel/PKK. There were bombings and attempted bombings in resort areas in western Turkey and Istanbul, some of which resulted in civilian casualties. A radical Kurdish separatist group calling itself the [[Kurdistan Freedom Hawks|Kurdish Freedom Hawks (TAK)]] claimed responsibility for many of these attacks. The TAK is a rival to PKK that since 2006 repeatedly damaged the PKK's efforts to negotiate cease-fires and unlike the PKK, is seeking to establish independent Kurdistan.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Brandon |first1=James |title=The Kurdistan Freedom Falcons Emerges as a Rival to the PKK |url=http://www.jamestown.org/single/?no_cache=1&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=936#.Vuqn8-LhDn4 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101225075250/http://www.jamestown.org/single/?no_cache=1&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=936#.Vuqn8-LhDn4 |archive-date=25 December 2010 |access-date=17 March 2016 |website=The Jamestown foundation}}</ref> In 2006 alone, the PKK claimed over 500 victims. On 1 October 2006, the PKK reportedly declared a unilateral cease-fire<ref>{{cite book |last=White |first=Paul |title=The PKK: Coming Down from the Mountains |publisher=Zed Books Ltd. |year=2015 |isbn=978-1783600403 |page=47 |language=en}}</ref> that slowed the intensity and pace of its attacks, but attacks continued in response to Turkish security forces significant counterinsurgency operations, especially in the southeast.

==== Cease-fire and renewed conflict ====
On 13 April 2009, the [[2009–2010 Kurdistan Workers' Party ceasefire|PKK declared a cease fire]] after the DTP won 99 municipalities and negotiations were spoken about. The AKP first spoke of the [[Democratic initiative#Kurdish initiative|"Kurdish Opening"]], then it was renamed in the "Democratic Opening" to appease nationalist interests and then the "National Unity Project".<ref>{{cite book |last=White |first=Doctor Paul |title=The PKK: Coming Down from the Mountains |publisher=Zed Books Ltd. |year=2015 |isbn=978-1783600403 |pages=50–51 |language=en}}</ref>

On 21 October 2011 Iranian foreign minister [[Ali Akbar Salehi]] announced Iran would co-operate with Turkey in some military operations against the PKK.<ref>{{cite web |date=20 October 2011 |title=Turkey, Iran to Cooperate Against Kurdish Rebels |url=https://www.voanews.com/a/turkey-iran-to-cooperate-against-kurdish-rebels-132316303/170915.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120131194726/http://www.voanews.com/english/news/europe/Turkey-Iran-to-Cooperate-Against-Kurdish-Rebels-132316303.html |archive-date=31 January 2012 |access-date=10 December 2012 |publisher=Voice of America}}</ref>

2012 was the most violent year in the armed conflict between the Turkish State and PKK since 1999. At least 541 individuals lost their lives as a result of the clashes including 316 militants and 282 soldiers. In contrast, 152 individuals lost their lives in 2009 until the Turkish government initiated negotiations with the PKK leadership.<ref>Güneş Murat Tezcür,"[http://www.luc.edu/faculty/gtezcur/files/TezcurInsightTurkey.pdf Prospects for Resolution of the Kurdish Question: A Realist Perspective], {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131016083217/http://www.luc.edu/faculty/gtezcur/files/TezcurInsightTurkey.pdf|date=16 October 2013}}" Insight Turkey 15 (Spring 2013): 69–84.</ref> The failure of this negotiations contributed to violence that were particularly intensified in 2012. The PKK encouraged by the rising power of the Syrian Kurds increased its attacks in the same year.

During the [[Syrian Civil War]], the Kurds in Syria have established control over their own region with the help of the PKK as well as with support from the Kurdistan Regional Government in [[Erbil]], under President Masoud Barzani.<ref name="Kurd-Shiite-Sunni-Split">{{cite web |last=Salem |first=Paul |date=29 November 2012 |title=Insight: Iraq's Tensions Heightened by Syria Conflict |url=http://middleeastvoices.voanews.com/2012/11/insight-iraqs-tensions-heightened-by-syria-conflict-96791/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130619200757/http://middleeastvoices.voanews.com/2012/11/insight-iraqs-tensions-heightened-by-syria-conflict-96791/ |archive-date=19 June 2013 |access-date=3 November 2012 |publisher=Middle East Voices}}</ref>