Editing Kurdistan Workers' Party (section)

==Organization==
Even though the PKK had several prominent representatives in various countries such as Iraq, Iran, Syria, Russia, and Europe,<ref name="frank2006">Frank C. Urbancic, "[https://2001-2009.state.gov/s/ct/rls/rm/07/83999.htm Briefing on Release of 2006 Country Reports on Terrorism]," [[U.S. Department of State]], 30 April 2007 [https://2001-2009.state.gov/s/ct/rls/rm/07/83999.htm]</ref> Abdullah Öcalan stayed the unchallenged leader of the organization. Today, though serving life imprisonment, Öcalan is still considered the honorary leader and figurehead of the organization.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.unb.ca/bruns/9900/issue19/intnews/kurdish.html|archive-url=http://arquivo.pt/wayback/20091014125228/http://www.unb.ca/bruns/9900/issue19/intnews/kurdish.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=14 October 2009|access-date=8 October 2008|title=Kurdish leader continues struggle from jail|date=18 February 2000|volume=133|issue=19|quote=...Öcalan sends messages to his guerrillas through his lawyers...|agency=[[Associated Press]]|work=Bruns International|publisher=Brunswickan Publishing Inc.}}</ref>

[[Murat Karayılan]] led the organization from 1999 to 2013. In 2013 Cemil Bayik and Besê Hozat assumed as the first joint leadership.<ref>{{cite book|title=The PKK: Coming Down from the Mountains|last1=White|first1=Paul|publisher=Zed Books Ltd.|year=2015|isbn=978-1783600403|location=London|page=26|language=en}}</ref> Cemil Bayik was one of the core leaders since its foundation. The organization appointed "Doctor Bahoz", [[Nom-de-guerre|nom de guerre]] of [[Bahoz Erdal|Fehman Huseyin]], a [[Kurds in Syria|Syrian Kurd]], in charge of the movement's military operations signifying the long-standing solidarity among Kurds from all parts of Kurdistan.<ref name="Brandon2007">Brandon, James. "[http://www.jamestown.org/terrorism/news/article.php?articleid=2370250 The PKK and Syria's Kurds] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071107082810/http://www.jamestown.org/terrorism/news/article.php?articleid=2370250 |date=7 November 2007 }}," ''Global Terrorism Analysis'', [[Jamestown Foundation]] Volume 5, Issue 3 (15 February 2007).</ref>

=== Political and popular wing ===
In 1985, the National Liberation Front of Kurdistan ({{langx|ku-Latn|Eniye Rizgariye Navata Kurdistan}}, ERNK) was established by the PKK as its [[popular front]] wing, with the role of both creating propaganda for the party, and as an [[umbrella organization]] for PKK organizations in different segments of the Kurdish population, such as the [[peasantry]], workers, youth, and women. It was dissolved in 1999, after the [[Imprisonment of Abdullah Öcalan|capture of Abdullah Öcalan]].<ref name="PRIF" /><ref>{{cite web |last1=Gunter |first1=Michael M. |author-link=Michael Gunter |title=Kurdistan National Liberation Front |url=http://kurds_history.enacademic.com/336/Kurdistan_National_Liberation_Front |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200103163458/http://kurds_history.enacademic.com/336/Kurdistan_National_Liberation_Front |archive-date=3 January 2020 |access-date=22 May 2019 |website=Historical Dictionary of the Kurds |publisher=Academic Dictionaries and Encyclopedias |language=en}}</ref>

=== Cultural branch ===
In 1983, the Association of Artists (''{{ill|Hunerkom|ku}}'') was established in Germany under the lead of the music group {{Interlanguage link|Koma Berxwedan|lt=Koma Berxwedan|ku||WD=}}. Its activities spread over Kurdish community centers in [[Kurds in France|France]], [[Kurds in Germany|Germany]] and the [[Kurds in the Netherlands|Netherlands]]. In 1994 the Hunerkom was renamed into the 'Kurdish Academy of Culture and Arts'. Koma Berxwedans songs, which often were about the PKK resistance, were forbidden in Turkey and had to be smuggled over the border.<ref name=":18">{{Cite book|last=Gunes|first=Cengiz|title=The Kurdish National Movement in Turkey: From Protest to Resistance|year= 2013|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1136587986|pages=112–113|language=en}}</ref>

=== Armed wing ===
The PKK had an armed wing, originally formed in 1984 as the Kurdistan Freedom Brigades ({{langx|ku-Latn|Hêzên Rizgariya Kurdistan}}, HRK),<ref>{{cite web |last1=Gunter |first1=Michael M. |website=Historical Dictionary of the Kurds |title=Hazen Rizgariya Kurdistan |url=http://kurds_history.enacademic.com/218/Hazen_Rizgariya_Kurdistan |publisher=Academic Dictionaries and Encyclopedias |access-date=22 May 2019 |language=en |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160715013342/http://kurds_history.enacademic.com/218/Hazen_Rizgariya_Kurdistan |archive-date=15 July 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref> renamed to the People's Liberation Army of Kurdistan ({{langx|ku-Latn|Arteşa Rizgariya Gelî Kurdistan}}, ARGK) in 1986,<ref name="PRIF">{{cite book |last1=O'Connor |first1=Francis |title=The Kurdish movement in Turkey: between political differentiation and violent confrontation |date= 2017 |publisher= Peace Research Institute Frankfurt |isbn=978-3946459217 |url=https://www.hsfk.de/fileadmin/HSFK/hsfk_publikationen/prif147.pdf |access-date=22 May 2019}}</ref> and again renamed to the [[People's Defense Forces]] ({{langx|ku-Latn|Hêzên Parastina Gel}}, HPG) in 1999.<ref>{{cite web |last1= M. Gunter |first1= Michael |title= Hezen Parastina Gel |url= http://kurds_history.enacademic.com/221/Hezen_Parastina_Gel |website= Historical Dictionary of the Kurds |publisher= Academic Dictionaries and Encyclopedias |access-date= 22 May 2019 |language= en |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20191017235354/http://kurds_history.enacademic.com/221/Hezen_Parastina_Gel |archive-date= 17 October 2019 |url-status= dead }}</ref>

=== Women's armed wing ===
[[File:Kurdish PKK guerrillas.jpg|thumb|Female PKK guerrillas of [[YJA-STAR]].]]
The [[Free Women's Units]] of Star ({{langx|ku-Latn|Yekîneyên Jinên Azad ên Star}},<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.yjastar.com/|title=Yekîneyên Jinên Azad ên Star – YJA STAR|website=www.yjastar.com|access-date=16 December 2019|archive-date=4 October 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241004084541/https://yjastar.com/|url-status=dead}}</ref> YJA-STAR) was established in 2004 as the women's armed wing of the PKK, emphasizing the issue of women's liberation.<ref name="ARMYOFWOMEN">{{cite web|title=Interview with the World's First Army of Women: YJA-STAR|url=https://machorka.espivblogs.net/2015/08/17/interview-with-the-worlds-first-army-of-women-yja-star/|website=Machorka|access-date=22 May 2019|date=17 August 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191027142448/https://machorka.espivblogs.net/2015/08/17/interview-with-the-worlds-first-army-of-women-yja-star/|archive-date=27 October 2019|url-status=dead}}</ref>

=== Youth wing ===
The [[Civil Protection Units|Civil Protections Units]] (YPS) is the successor of the [[YDG-H|Patriotic Revolutionary Youth Movement]] (YDG-H), the youth wing of the PKK.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://anfenglish.com/women/university-students-join-the-ranks-of-yps-jin-in-cizre-13624|title=University students join the ranks of YPS-Jin in Cizre|website=ANF News|language=en|access-date=17 February 2020}}</ref> In February 2016 the [[Firat News Agency|ANF]] news agency reported the establishment of the women's branch of the YPS, the [[YPS-Jin]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://anfenglish.com/women/yps-jin-gever-announces-its-establishment-13815|title=YPS-Jin Gever announces its establishment|website=ANF News|language=en|access-date=17 February 2020}}</ref>

===Training camps===
The first training camps were established in 1982 in Turkey, Iraq, Syria, Iran and also in [[Beqaa Valley]] with the support of the Syrian government.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://fas.org/irp/world/para/docs/studies3.htm|access-date=9 October 2008|title=The Workers' Party of Kurdistan (PKK)|publisher=Republic of Turkey, Ministry of Foreign Affairs}}</ref><ref name="Simon">{{cite news|first=Simon|last=Hooper|title=PKK's decades of violent struggle|url=http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/europe/10/10/pkk.profile/index.html|work=CNN|date= 11 October 2007|access-date=10 October 2008}}</ref> In the third party congress of October 1986, the PKK established the [[Mahsum Korkmaz Academy]] in the Beqaa Valley.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Casier |first1=Marlies |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6vYtCgAAQBAJ&dq=Mahsum+Korkmaz+military+academy&pg=PA137 |title=Nationalisms and Politics in Turkey: Political Islam, Kemalism and the Kurdish Issue |last2=Jongerden |first2=Joost |year=2010 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |isbn=978-1136938672 |page=137 |language=en}}</ref> After Turkey pressured Syria to enforce its closure in 1992, the academy moved to [[Damascus]].<ref name=":03">{{Cite journal |last=Grojean |first=Olivier |date=9 July 2014 |title=The Production of the New Man Within the PKK |url=https://journals.openedition.org/ejts/4925#tocto2n4 |journal=European Journal of Turkish Studies. Social Sciences on Contemporary Turkey |language=en |doi=10.4000/ejts.4925 |issn=1773-0546|doi-access=free }}</ref> After the Iran-Iraq War and the [[Iraqi Kurdish Civil War|Kurdish Civil War]], the PKK moved all its camps to Northern Iraq in 1998. The PKK had also completely moved to [[Qandil Mountains]] from Beqaa Valley, under intensive pressure, after Syria expelled Öcalan and shut down all camps established in the region.<ref name="Simon" /> At the time, Northern Iraq was experiencing a vacuum of control after the [[Gulf War]]-related [[Operation Provide Comfort]]. Instead of a single training camp that could be easily destroyed, the organization created many small camps. During this period the organization set up a fully functioning enclave with training camps, storage facilities, and reconnaissance and communications centers.

In 2007, the organization was reported to have camps strung out through the mountains that straddle the border between Turkey and Iraq, including in Sinaht, Haftanin, Kanimasi and Zap.<ref name="gareth" /> The organization developed two types of camps. The mountain camps, located in Turkey, Iraq and Iran, are used as forward bases from which militants carry out attacks against Turkish military bases. The units deployed there are highly mobile and the camps have only minimal infrastructure.<ref name="gareth" /> The other permanent camps, in the Qandil Mountains of Iraq, have more developed infrastructure—including a field hospital, electricity generators and a large proportion of the PKK's lethal and non-lethal supplies.<ref name="gareth">Jenkins, Gareth.{{cite web |url=http://www.jamestown.org/terrorism/news/article.php?articleid=2370250 |title= Turkey Weighs Military Options Against PKK Camps in Iraq |access-date= 18 December 2008 |url-status= bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071107082810/http://www.jamestown.org/terrorism/news/article.php?articleid=2370250 |archive-date=7 November 2007 }}, ''Global Terrorism Analysis'', Volume 4, Issue 33 16 October 2007.</ref> The organization is also using the Qandil mountain camps for its political activities. It was reported in 2004 that there was another political training camp in Belgium, evidence that the organization had used training camps in Europe for political and ideological training.<ref>"[http://daccess-ods.un.org/access.nsf/Get?Open&DS=A/59/44(SUPP)&Lang=E Report Of The Committee Against Torture]," United Nations [[Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights|OHCHR]], 2004, pp. 276–277.</ref>

===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>

===Reported links with Turkish intelligence===
During the controversial [[Ergenekon trials]] in Turkey, allegations have been made that the PKK was linked to elements of the Turkish intelligence community.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://mezopotamyaajansi35.com/tum-haberler/content/view/136361|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230716054728/http://mezopotamyaajansi35.com/tum-haberler/content/view/136361|url-status=dead|archive-date=16 July 2023|title=Ecevit Kılıç: Derin devleti var eden Kürt korkusudur|website=mezopotamyaajansi35.com}}</ref>

[[Şamil Tayyar]], author and member of the ruling [[Justice and Development Party (Turkey)|AK Party]], said that Öcalan was released in 1972 after just three months' detention on the initiative of the [[National Intelligence Organization (Turkey)|National Intelligence Organization]] (Millî İstihbarat Teşkilatı, MİT), and that his 1979 escape to Syria was aided by elements in MİT.<ref>[[Today's Zaman]], 18 October 2011, [http://todayszaman.com/news-260285-tayyars-new-book-reveals-pkks-ties-with-turkish-intelligence.html Tayyar's new book reveals PKK's ties with Turkish intelligence] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111019153652/http://www.todayszaman.com/news-260285-tayyars-new-book-reveals-pkks-ties-with-turkish-intelligence.html |date=19 October 2011 }}</ref> Öcalan has admitted making use of money given by the MIT to the PKK, which he says was provided as part of MIT efforts to control him.<ref>[[Today's Zaman]], 8 November 2008, [http://www.todayszaman.com/newsDetail_getNewsById.action?load=detay&link=158166 Tenth hearing of Ergenekon trial held yesterday] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150610203020/http://www.todayszaman.com/newsDetail_getNewsById.action?load=detay&link=158166|date=10 June 2015}}</ref>

Former police special forces member [[Ayhan Çarkın]] said that the state, using the clandestine [[Ergenekon (allegation)|Ergenekon network]], colluded with militant groups such as the PKK, [[Revolutionary People's Liberation Party/Front|Dev-Sol]] and [[Turkish Hezbollah]], with the goal of profiting from the war.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://arsiv.sabah.com.tr/2008/10/22/haber,3F335AA5F18446E4AB40F3A91AB3BB88.html|access-date=8 January 2009|title=Çarkın'ın itiraflarına soruşturma|date=22 October 2008|first=Ecevit|last=Kilic|work=Sabah|language=tr|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191106062246/http://arsiv.sabah.com.tr/2008/10/22/haber,3F335AA5F18446E4AB40F3A91AB3BB88.html|archive-date=6 November 2019|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The [[secret witness]] "First Step" testified that General [[Levent Ersöz]], former head of [[Gendarmerie Intelligence Organization|JITEM]], had frequent contact with PKK commander [[Cemîl Bayik]].<ref>[[Today's Zaman]], 22 August 2009, [http://www.todayszaman.com/news-184721-ersoz-and-pkks-bayik-kept-in-touch.html Ersöz and PKK's Bayık kept in touch] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140201214002/http://www.todayszaman.com/news-184721-ersoz-and-pkks-bayik-kept-in-touch.html|date=1 February 2014}}</ref>