Conflict between the Republic of Turkey and the PKK

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Thematic map on the Turkey-PKK conflict

The PKK's conflict with the Republic of Turkey is a political and military conflict that has been dominated by armed conflicts between the Kurdish underground organization PKK , the Turkish armed forces and paramilitary units operating against it since 1984 . The conflict is taking place in Turkey, northern Iraq and northern Syria . The headquarters of the PKK is in the Kandil Mountains . This article deals primarily with the military dimension of the conflict. For the political, social, cultural and economic dimensions of the conflict, see the article Kurds in Turkey .

background

It is claimed that the Turkey-PKK conflict is the 29th Kurdish uprising in the history of the Turkish Republic . Among the major uprisings such as the Koçgiri Uprising (1920), Sheikh Said Uprising (1925), Ararat Uprising (1930), and the Dersim Uprising (1938), this is the uprising with the longest duration and profound impact. In addition to the economic underdevelopment of the predominantly Kurdish south-east of the country, many Kurds also felt discriminated against because they were denied their own language and tradition . For decades the Kurdish population was assimilated and disadvantaged. This repressive Turkish policy, which also stood in the way of moderate Kurdish concerns, drove many Kurds into the arms of the PKK. One reason for the PKK to take up arms was the repression of the military dictatorship after the 1980 coup . a. was clear from the conditions in the Diyarbakır Military Prison . Particularly in the early days, the PKK was very popular because of its cult of martyrs , which included members who had died in prison on hunger strikes or self-immolation . In addition, Turkey was in the rural areas some sympathy for " Lawless " (tr: " eskiya "), which the state power and specifically the control of the gendarmerie oppose (the police in the country). This favored the tactics of guerrilla warfare , as did the rugged mountain landscape. Right at the beginning of the armed struggle, the PKK forced support through massive intimidation (murder of opponents). It is claimed that the PKK is oppressing and threatening the population.

The establishment of the PKK and the first fighting

On November 27, 1978, the PKK was founded in a village in Diyarbakır Province . Like many other Turkish and Kurdish organizations, the organization advocates armed struggle. In contrast to other militant organizations, the focus was not on the class struggle to establish the dictatorship of the proletariat , but on “ national liberation ”. After its establishment in 1979-80, the PKK organized a number of skirmishes and skirmishes with large landowners. Up until the military coup in 1980 , the PKK also waged armed conflicts with other radical Turkish and Kurdish groups. According to the indictment against Abdullah Öcalan , fights (often fatal) with Turkish organizations such as DHB ( Devrimci Halkın Birliği , People's Revolutionary Union), HK ( Halkın Kurtuluşu , people's liberation) or Aydınlık (Enlightenment) as well as with Kurdish organizations such as DDKD ( Devrimci Doği) Kültür Dernekleri , Revolutionary Eastern Cultural Associations) or KUK ( Kürdistan Ulusal Kurtuluşçuları , National Liberators of Kurdistan). The fighting is said to have cost 1,000 Kurds their lives.

The unilateral declaration of war

On August 15, 1984, units of the PKK occupied the two small towns of Şemdinli and Eruh in the provinces of Hakkâri and Siirt for one day and attacked Turkish police stations and military facilities there. Turkey increased its military presence and armed Kurdish tribes as village guards to fight against the PKK. On July 19, 1987, the previous martial law in 8 provinces with Kurdish populations was replaced by the state of emergency (another 3 provinces were declared "neighboring" provinces). A special administration with a so-called super governor was set up, which became known as the OHAL . The state of emergency was extended several times by 4 months each for some provinces and was valid in Hakkari and Tunceli until November 2002.

For its part, the PKK attacked civilians and, in particular, village guards. At the 3rd PKK Congress in October 1986, it was decided to expand the armed struggle and take particularly tough action against village guards. The bloodiest phase was between January 1987 and November 1989. Almost 400 people, including women and children, are said to have been killed in raids on villages in which there were village guards. If attacks with fewer than five fatalities and targeted murders of individuals are added, the PKK could have been responsible for the deaths of 1,200 civilians between 1984 and 1990. The organization itself cites the number of 1055 "traitors and teacher-agents" killed in actions against "village guards, collaborators - agents and spies" between August 15, 1984 and December 31, 1988.

The reaction of the security forces

The Turkish security forces received support from special teams (özel tim) and village guards. By 1990 around 200,000 soldiers, 70,000 police officers, 25,000 Kurdish village guards and 1,500 anti-terror specialists fought against 2,500 PKK rebels. In the 1990s, pressure increased on villagers to accept weapons. In the districts of Şırnak , Eruh and Silopi , with the exception of one village each inhabited by “village guards”, all villages were destroyed. The National Security Council of Turkey decided several times to relocate entire regions on Mount Ararat or in the province of Elazığ . In total, the Turkish military is said to have destroyed 3,500–4,000 Kurdish places. The Foundation for Economic and Social Studies of Turkey (TESEV) estimated the number of people displaced from 14 provinces at 950,000 to 1.2 million.

According to official figures, 574 members of the Turkish armed forces, 1,068 PKK militants and 1,045 civilians had died by the end of 1990. Other sources state that 1,023 members of the security forces and village guards were killed in fighting and targeted attacks by the PKK. During the same period, 910 PKK militants and 906 civilians were killed as a result of the violence in the area.

Serhildan and the 1st Armistice

The first major Serhildan (popular uprising in the sense of Intifada ) took place on March 14, 1990 in Nusaybin in the province of Mardin for a fallen PKK militant. One week later Newroz was celebrated openly for the first time, on March 20, 1990 in Cizre . During the Newroz celebrations in 1991 one person died in Nusaybin around March 21, 1992, a total of 94 people died at the celebrations in Newroz (including 3 security officers). In 1992 about 10,000 PKK fighters and over 300,000 Turkish security forces faced each other.

Shortly before the Newroz Fest 1993, Abdullah Öcalan announced a unilateral ceasefire on March 20, 1993 at a press conference in the Bekaa Valley , which was to last until April 16, 1993. On April 16, 1993, he announced that the armistice would be extended indefinitely, before announcing the end of the armistice on June 8, 1993. 91 PKK militants were killed during the ceasefire. On May 24, 1993, PKK militants erected a roadblock between Bingöl and Elazığ and shot 33 soldiers (see Bingöl massacre 1993 ) and 4 teachers. At the Newroz celebrations in 1993, 3 people died and 300 people were injured. There were also so-called serhildans on other occasions, for example at the funeral of PKK fighters who had been killed, and here too the security forces fired fatal shots at demonstrators. During a demonstration in Digor County ( Kars ) to commemorate the beginning of the armed conflict on August 14, 1993, 15 demonstrators, including 8 women, were killed.

In addition, the Turkish security forces carried out actions against residents of villages suspected of sympathy with the PKK. In October 1993, the county town of Lice was the target of an operation that lasted several days. At least 30 people were killed and around 100 people injured. According to official reports, an attack by 500 PKK militants was the trigger for this action, which damaged 249 shops and 421 homes.

The 1990s

The conflict between the Turkish Republic and the Kurdish Workers' Party reached new dimensions in the 1990s. Official figures on the fatalities in the years 1990–1999 are quite contradicting. Significant differences can be found when comparing with other sources. Here are the numbers of the General Staff first:

year soldiers Militants Civilians
1990 161 368 204
1991 244 376 233
1992 629 1129 832
1993 715 3050 1479
1994 1145 2510 992
1995 772 4163 313
1996 608 3789 170
1997 518 7558 158
1998 383 2556 85
1999 236 1458 83
total 5411 26957 4549

With reference to the highest police department , the number of PKK fighters killed between August 15, 1984 and May 30, 1999 was given elsewhere as 18,348. This contrasts with figures for a longer period of time, which are supposed to come from the General Staff , the commandant's office of the gendarmerie and the highest police headquarters . According to this, 6,520 soldiers, police officers and village guards were killed between August 1984 and March 2009. In the same period, 29,639 militants are said to have been "arrested dead". The number of civilian victims was given as 5,535.

The PKK gave the following information on the fatalities in the war from 1984 to 1999: 42,459 dead on the part of the Turkish state (soldiers, police officers, village guards, collaborators, etc.); 6,671 deaths on the part of the PKK. In addition, there are 9,000 to 10,000 civilians and around 2,000 victims in fighting among Kurdish organizations in Iraq.

A comparison of the official figures with other sources (material from the human rights foundation TIHV and the human rights association IHD ) reveals the following picture of fatalities in armed conflicts (not including civilians):

year soldiers Militants total Official
sum
1990 416 910 1326 529
1991 235 363 598 620
1992 747 972 1719 1758
1993 776 1854 1853 3765
1994 1077 1737 2814 3655
1995 780 1007 1787 4935
1996 680 791 1471 4397
1997 2514 8076
1998 1718 2939
1999 875 1694
total 16676 32368

Civilian casualties are not included in this table. If they are added to the official figures, according to the official census, almost 37,000 (36,917) people were victims of the armed conflict in 10 years . If the “civilian victims” of the most well-known violations of the right to life (1,165 extra-legal executions, 1,735 murders of unrecognized perpetrators and 817 cases of “ disappearances ”) are added to the figures determined by human rights organizations , the total is over 20,000 (20,393 ) Fatalities.

In 1995 there were two military expeditions by Turkish land forces into the UN protection zone for the Kurds in Iraq , which lasted several days . In 1996, a permanent security zone extending up to twenty kilometers into Iraqi territory was to be established along the almost 350 kilometers long border. After protests from several Arab countries and political intervention, the security zone was declared provisional. Within Turkey the fighting was concentrated in the Munzur Mountains in the provinces of Tunceli and Erzincan , on Mount Cudi in the Province of Şırnak , on Mount Tendürek in the Province of Ağrı and on Mount Ararat in the far east of Turkey. In 1997 the Turkish army carried out several major offensives in the same regions as in the previous year. On July 21, 2006, the ANF news agency reported that Turkey had carried out 24 cross-border operations by then.

Disregard of the right to life

In addition to an increase in skirmishes among the armed parties, there were more and more casualties among the civilian population. The depopulation of villages according to the motto "dry up the lake to get the fish" reached a high point in 1994. According to the Turkish press, 6,153 settlements and 1,779 villages were evacuated and 1,000,000 people were relocated for security reasons in the 1990s.

A well-known event with numerous civilian casualties was the air raid on Koçağılı and Kuşkonar .

In addition to the special teams, groups were also deployed on the Turkish side which, beyond legality, consisted of officers of the gendarmerie ( JITEM ) and defectors of the PKK and who were accused of many unsolved murders. :; In addition, many supporters of the PKK (tr so-called patriots yurtsever by militants of Turkish) Hezbollah murdered. In the case of political murders, the human rights organizations in Turkey have often differentiated between fatal shots during demonstrations, fatal shots if stop warnings were disregarded, deaths from land mines , and extra-legal executions and murders of unrecognized perpetrators. The last two categories were the most important and related to deaths when the security forces were deployed (extra-legal) or death squads from JITEM / defectors or Hezbollah (i.e. a strong suspicion of the unrecognized / caught perpetrators). The Human Rights Foundation of Turkey found the following figures:

year Extra legal Culprit undetected
1990 ... 11
1991 98 31
1992 283 362
1993 189 467
1994 129 423
1995 96 166
1996 129 113
1997 98 65
1998 80 45
1999 63 52
total 1,165 1,735

Ordinary villagers also disappeared after being detained. A preliminary list of enforced disappearances between 1980 and 1990 shows:

year Fatalities
1980-1989 10
1990-1993 34
1994-1995 539
1996-1999 234
total 817

PKK militants were also responsible for the murders of civilians. Between 1990 and 1999, more than 800 civilians were murdered by PKK militants.

Murders of teachers and kidnappings

A report published by the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey in November 1995 listed the murders of 142 teachers between August 15, 1984 and November 20, 1995. Of these, 91 murders were carried out by the PKK. Extending the period to 20 years (September 12, 1980– September 12, 2000), the number of teachers killed was 176. The perpetrators could not be identified in 57 cases, but 105 of the murders were carried out by PKK militants.

Both reports in the Turkish press and reports in the monthly PKK organ "Serxwebun" show that there were virtually no kidnappings by the PKK in the 1980s. In 1993 there were more kidnappings of tourists and attacks on tourist destinations. According to the TIHV, 33 teachers were murdered in 1994, 24 of them by the PKK. In particular, the murder of 6 teachers in Mazgirt County (Tunceli) on September 11th led to sharp reactions. The IHD Chairman Akin Birdal appealed to the organization that the Geneva Conventions must be observed. The organization, however, claimed that the teachers took part in military operations. Three health officials who were abducted during the operation were released some time afterwards. Then on September 29, the organization announced that attacks on teachers had ceased. Furthermore, however, the teachers need a permit from their part in order to practice their profession. Anyone who violates the values ​​of the people and the nature of the nation cannot work as a teacher.

In 1995, seven teachers were murdered in Turkey, three of them by the PKK (one teacher died in a bomb and in three murders the perpetrators remained undetected). On November 21, 1995, PKK militants erected a roadblock between Diyarbakır and Lice . They kidnapped 17 people. All but 3 teachers among the abductees were released. IHD Diyarbakır called for their release and Amnesty International launched an urgent action. Of the kidnapped teachers, Kadri Tursun was released on March 12, 1996, and Köksal Gümüş and Hakan Güler in April 1996.

In 1996, kidnapped soldiers were the main item on the agenda of kidnappings by the PKK. A member of the Welfare Party (RP), which was part of the government at the time, attempted to “pick up” her in northern Iraq with representatives of the human rights groups IHD and Mazlumder in August 1996, but only succeeded in the second attempt in December 1996.

There were other kidnappings between 1997 and 1999.

weapons shipments

The Federal Republic of Germany supplied Turkey with 300 wheeled armored vehicles, 100 million cartridges, 256,000 Kalashnikovs and 500,000 steel helmets. In total, war equipment was delivered for 1.5 billion marks . In March 1992, Germany temporarily stopped further deliveries because the Gendarmerie used armored personnel carriers from the GDR's stocks against the PKK. In the 1990s, the United States of America supplied Turkey with various weapons and trained Turkish soldiers.

1999-2004

In 1998 Turkey and Syria were on the verge of war when the dispute over the PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan, who was later kidnapped from Kenya by the Turkish secret service, and his hiding place in Syria escalated. On February 16, 1999, Öcalan was brought to Turkey and tried. The US is said to have actively participated in the kidnapping of Abdullah Öcalan. This was followed by a series of sometimes violent protests that were not limited to Turkey. There were self-immolations especially in prisons in Turkey.

In an appeal made by his lawyers on August 1, 1999, Abdullah Öcalan called on the PKK to cease the armed struggle from September 1 and to withdraw beyond the Turkish borders. This call was largely obeyed, so that of the 4,000 to 4,500 fighters the PKK had at the time, around 90 percent were abroad, primarily in northern Iraq. Afterwards (between 1999 and 2004) there were fewer armed clashes than in previous years. In 2003, the conflict between the Turkish government and the Congress for Freedom and Democracy in Kurdistan (Kadek), as the Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) was now called, was resolved by the ban of the country's largest Kurdish party, the People's Party for Democracy (HADEP ), tightened on March 13, 2003. The attack by Kurdish rebels on an army post on May 31, 2003 is said to be the first attack since the PKK declared a unilateral ceasefire in 1999. The situation calmed down somewhat after the State Security Court announced on October 3, 2003 that Öcalan's death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment.

The decline in fighting between the Turkish army and PKK militants can be seen both in official figures on people killed during this period and in the statistics of human rights organizations:

year soldiers Militants Civilians IHD
1999 236 1458 83 857
2000 29 319 27 147
2001 20th 104 8th 92
2002 7th 19th 7th 30th
2003 31 87 83 104
2004 75 122 28 240

Those close to the PKK assume that the unilateral armistice was announced on August 28, 1998 and began on September 1, 1998. It was officially ended on June 1, 2004.

2005-2010

Between 2005 and 2010, the Kurdish Workers' Party, which is now operating under the name of the PKK, repeatedly announced unilateral cease-fire agreements without having any major effect on reducing armed struggles. There have been several fatalities from exploding land mines. In September 2003, Turkey joined the Mine Ban Agreement (the Ottawa Convention ). In July 2006 the PKK declared by signing the commitment document of the call from Geneva (Geneva Call Deed of Commitment) willing to put any more mines. There were also allegations that Turkey used chemical weapons in the “fight against the guerrillas”.

There were also acts of sabotage against freight trains (some with fatalities) or pipelines . Bombs also blew up in busy places (cities) in the southeast of the country, but also in the west and north of the country. The Freedom Falcons of Kurdistan (TAK) confessed to some of the attacks .

Since June 2007, the Turkish General Staff has repeatedly declared areas to be temporary security zones and restricted military areas . These zones were not allowed to be entered. However, some of the declared security zones were not on Turkish territory.

The skirmishes between the Turkish armed forces and the armed wing of the PKK, the HPG, have intensified since 2007. The HPG has repeatedly carried out direct attacks on gendarmerie guards. Actions were reported not only from the "Kurdish heartland", but also right up to the Black Sea region (the provinces of Erzincan and Giresun ).

On February 21, 2008, the Turkish army launched the 25th offensive since 1983 in northern Iraq, in which an estimated 10,000 soldiers were involved. The operation ended on February 29th. The official figures on the fatalities of the armed conflict and the figures published by the human rights association IHD on people who were killed in combat (murders of civilians excluded) show:

year soldiers Militants Civilians off. total IHD
2005 105 242 30th 377 496
2006 111 287 38 436 354
2007 146 413 37 596 424
2008 171 1369 51 1591 432
2009 80 277 21st 378 141
2010 106 419 20th 545 244

Oslo talks and resurgence of the conflict

The first secret peace talks between the Turkish state and the PKK were held in Oslo from 2009 to 2011 . The Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan sent the MIT secret service employee Hakan Fidan to Oslo. In early 2011 the PKK declared a ceasefire until after the parliamentary elections on June 12th . In addition, it became public in 2011 that the state had secretly held talks with the PKK in Oslo and the imprisoned PKK leader Öcalan in Imrali in order to resolve the armed conflict. However, after the election, the BDP boycotted the parliamentary sessions because five of its MPs who are in custody for the KCK trial were not released and Hatip Dicle was removed from office. In the summer of 2011 the negotiations finally failed and in July 19 people died in fighting that flared up again. In August, the Turkish Air Force bombed over 60 targets, and a little later the army claimed to have killed over 90 PKK fighters.

On the morning of October 19, 2011, 24 security forces died and 18 were wounded in an attack by the PKK on various Turkish military posts in Çukurca on the border with Iraq. The attack was the most loss-making for the Turkish army since 1993. As a direct reaction, Turkish commandos invaded northern Iraq in battalion strength . Between January 1 and November 28, 2011, 101 soldiers, 163 militants, 21 civilians, 32 police officers and 13 village guards, for a total of 330 people, were killed. 273 of these deaths occurred after July 2, when the armed clashes increased again.

On September 19, 2011, PKK fighters kidnapped the civilian Abdullah Öztürk and then killed him. On September 20, 2011, a bomb attack occurred in Ankara ; the underground organization and splinter group of the PKK Freedom Falcons of Kurdistan claimed responsibility for the attack. In response to the attacks, Turkey announced that it would launch a military offensive against the Kurds in northern Iraq with Iran .

In the first four months of 2012, 20 members of the security forces and 67 militants of the HPG died in fighting in the region. During the same period, 12 civilians were the victims of extra-legal executions. The death toll rose in the following two months to 56 killed members of the security forces and 122 killed militants of the HPG. Another four civilians were killed.

After the beginning of the civil war in Syria , the PKK became much more active. In August 2012, PKK activists kidnapped the Kurdish MP Hüseyin Aygün , whom they accused of treason. He was released two days later. The Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan doubted the kidnapping action and suspected a joint high-profile campaign behind it. On August 10, 2012, the Republican People's Party (CHP) published a report on people kidnapped by the PKK since the June 2011 elections . According to the CHP report, the majority of abductees (90) have been released; three abductees freed themselves and two abductees were found dead.

There was a presumption that the PKK was being supported directly by the Syrian government and Iran, in retaliation for Turkish support for the Free Syrian Army .

Since July 23, 2012, intense clashes have been reported in Hakkâri Province (especially in Şemdinli County ). The conflicting parties gave contradicting figures.

Peace negotiations

In the winter of 2012, the director of the Turkish secret service MİT began first talks with Abdullah Öcalan on the prison island of İmralı . The Turkish government considered the withdrawal of the PKK from Turkish territory and the laying down of arms as the highest priority. The Kurds demanded cultural rights as an ethnic minority and a special political status within Turkey; on the other hand, they were prepared to renounce the demand for state independence. In the course of the negotiations, various delegations of the Kurdish Barış ve Demokrasi Partisi (BDP) visited Öcalan in order to draw up a roadmap for pacifying the Turkish-Kurdish conflict. On January 10, 2013, three high-ranking female PKK members, including PKK co-founder Sakine Cansız , were murdered in Paris . These murders were rated, among other things, as an attempt to sabotage the peace negotiations by hardliners. At the beginning of March 2013, the PKK released eight kidnapped Turkish security forces in order to send a positive signal for the peace negotiations.

At the Newroz festival on March 21, 2013, Öcalan finally declared a ceasefire and the withdrawal of PKK units from Turkey. Many observers spoke of a decisive step, since Öcalan still has great authority among the Kurds. The Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan assessed Öcalan's appeal as positive. Part of the initiated peace process should be the work of groups of 'wise' people who should do public relations work in seven regions of Turkey and take on an advisory role. At the end of April 2013, the PKK announced its withdrawal from Turkey and withdrew to northern Iraq. Smaller skirmishes between the PKK and Turkey occurred occasionally and did not affect the progress of the peace process.

In April 2013 Erdoğan set up a committee called the “Council of Wise Men” , made up of intellectuals, journalists and artists, which was supposed to accompany the peace process in civil business terms.

The BDP and PKK now insisted on the initiation of the second stage of the peace process, which is to include numerous political reforms to improve Kurdish minority rights. On September 5, 2013, the PKK announced the suspension of the withdrawal of fighters from Turkey and threatened to send the rebels back in the event of Turkish attacks. Tension between Kurdish protesters and Turkish security forces on December 6, 2013 resulted in the deaths of two demonstrators. On December 8, 2013, PKK fighters kidnapped four soldiers from the Turkish armed forces in Diyarbakir. The Turkish armed forces started a large-scale operation after the kidnapping. After Kurdish politicians exerted influence, the soldiers were released a little later.

In October 2014 riots broke out in Turkey in connection with the armed conflict in Kobanê, Syria . The demonstrators accused the Turkish government of having done nothing against the jihadist - Salafist terrorist organization Islamic State (IS) and of cooperating with them. 30 people were killed in the protests.

On February 28, 2015, representatives of the government and the People's Democratic Party (HDP), the successor party to the BDP, signed a roadmap to finally end the conflict in the Dolmabahçe Palace in Istanbul. HDP MP Sırrı Süreyya Önder read a call from Öcalan to the PKK, which was broadcast live by several broadcasters, in the presence of the Deputy Prime Minister Yalçın Akdoğan to lay down their arms. Observers at home and abroad saw this as a “great opportunity for a historic step”. However, the following day the PKK leadership boycotted their leader Öcalan's call for disarmament and set conditions. Erdogan subsequently declared the agreement null and void two weeks later. Some observers said this was a reaction to HDP chairman Selahattin Demirtaş saying shortly after the Dolmabahçe declaration that his party would not support Erdogan's intentions to introduce a presidential system .

End of the peace process?

see also Turkish offensive against the PKK since 2015

After the parliamentary election in June 2015 , from which there was no clear winner, there was a significant increase in violence, which increased again after the attack in Suruç on July 20, 2015. PKK activists shot two Turkish police officers. The PKK justified this with the fact that they had worked with the IS . The Turkish state responded with attacks on Kurdish areas in Iraq as well as raids against Kurdish activists in Turkey. The activist Günay Özarslan was killed. The PKK spokesman Zagros Hiwa spoke of a practical end to the armistice by Turkey. Shortly afterwards, the PKK claimed responsibility for a fatal attack on two Turkish soldiers. At the end of July 2015, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan declared the peace process with the Kurds to have failed. On November 12, 2015, the human rights association Insan Hakları Derneği (IHD) published a report on the extent of violence between June 7, 2015 and November 9, 2015. The report noted that on October 10, 2015 , the KCK (on behalf of the PKK) announced that it would not act, but that the state had increased the use of force. 150 soldiers, police officers and village guards as well as 181 PKK militants were killed during this period. 9 civilians also died in the fighting.

At the same time, violence escalated in some localities in the Kurdish settlement area. From August 2015 so-called people's parliaments, often with the participation of the DBP , which dominated the city administrations in many places, proclaimed self-government and the youth organization of the PKK, the YDG-H , dug trenches in the districts they controlled and erected barricades around access to lock the quarters. Postwendend imposed governors in these villages curfews . In mid-December 2015, the chairman of the MHP , Devlet Bahçeli, announced that a curfew had been imposed 52 times in 7 different locations. HDP MP for Diyarbakır Province, İdris Baluken , announced on December 10, 2015 that 78 civilians had lost their lives during the curfew. The events during the curfew from April 4th to 12th were particularly drastic. September 2015 in Cizre , where more than 20 civilians were killed, and during the curfew for more than 10 days in Silvan , where at least 10 civilians lost their lives.

Also due to the season, the fighting intensified in the spring of 2016 in southeast Turkey.

Film adaptations

See also

literature

  • Aliza Marcus: Blood and Belief: The PKK and the Kurdish Fight for Independence . New York University Press, New York 2007, ISBN 978-0-8147-5711-6 .
  • Henri J. Barkey, Graham E. Fuller: Turkey's Kurdish Question . Rowman & Littlefield, Lanham 1998, ISBN 978-0-8476-8553-0 .
  • Ferhad Ibrahim : The Kurdish Conflict in Turkey. Obstacles and Chances for Peace and Democracy . LIT Verlag, Münster 2000, ISBN 978-0-312-23629-8 .

Individual evidence

  1. Susanne Güsten: Fighter jets over Northern Iraq: Turkish F-16s bomb PKK headquarters (tagesschau.de archive) in the Tagesschau
  2. In a doctoral thesis completed in 2002, 24 Kurdish uprisings from the establishment of the Republic of Turkey (1923) up to the start of the armed conflict with the PKK were listed. 13 revolts are said to have taken place during the time of the Ottoman Empire , pp. 19-20 and 34-35 of the work entitled PKK TERÖR ÖRGÜTÜ (Tarihsel ve Siyasal Gelişim Süreci Bakımından İncelenmesi) ( Memento of December 24, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF ; 4.7 MB); Accessed September 21, 2012
  3. See a study by the 'Foundation for Economic and Social Studies in Turkey' (Türkiye Ekonomik ve Sosyal Etüdler Vakfi = TESEV) from July 2011. The study was written by Cengiz Çandar and is entitled Dağdan İniş - PKK Nasıl Silah Bırakır? ( Memento of December 3, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 2.3 MB); Accessed September 21, 2012
  4. a b Forum for Intercultural Dialogue e. V .; Ercan Karakoyun : Ulla Jelpke, the Gülen movement and the Kurdish question ( Memento from August 22, 2012 in the Internet Archive ), undated; Accessed October 3, 2012
  5. Die Zeit 27/1993: The Eternal Sacrifice ; Accessed October 3, 2012
  6. TAZ of August 12, 2010, Jürgen Gottschlich : PKK wants to lay down arms ; Accessed October 3, 2012
  7. Joseph Croitoru, The Martyr as a Weapon. The historical roots of the suicide attack , Carl Hanser Verlag, Munich 2003, ISBN 3-446-20371-0 , pp. 14–15 of the document available on the Internet as a PDF file ; Accessed October 3, 2012
  8. Mehmet Ali Birand in Hürriyet on September 18, 2012 TSK, PKK'yı neden durduramıyor? , Accessed October 3, 2012. In addition to popular support, Birand cited the fact that the militants know the site like the back of their hand as a major advantage.
  9. İsmet G. İmset: PKK: 20 years of separatist violence (PKK: Ayrılıkçı Şiddetin 20 Yılı (1973-1992), Ankara, June 1993, ISBN 975-95711-0-2 , pp. 130-131)
  10. See also a page on crises and conflicts: The history of the conflict between Kurds and Turks ; Accessed October 3, 2012
  11. Compare an analysis by Ute Reissner and Justus Leicht (1999): The Politics of the PKK - a balance sheet , accessed on September 20, 2012
  12. Quoted from the indictment against Abdullah Öcalan, Part 9 ( Memento of May 10, 2000 in the Internet Archive ) to be found at Belgenet; Accessed September 21, 2012
  13. This thesis was represented by the Kurdish politician İbrahim Güçlü at a hearing in the Turkish parliament in January 2012. The text was published on January 30, 2012 on a page at nasname.com ( memento of February 2, 2012 in the Internet Archive ); Accessed September 21, 2012
  14. a b c d University of Hamburg: Turkey (Kurds) ( Memento from December 6, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) December 2001; Accessed September 21, 2012
  15. Information on martial law and the state of emergency in Turkey is available in Turkish on a page with the title Page no longer available , search in web archives: Türkiye'de illere göre sıkıyönetim ve olağanüstü hal uygulaması ; Accessed September 21, 2012@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / ob.nubati.net
  16. See a doctoral thesis written in Turkish by Türkmen Töreli from 2002. The thesis entitled PKK TERÖR ÖRGÜTÜ (Tarihsel ve Siyasal Gelişim Süreci Bakımından İncelenmesi) ( Memento from December 24, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) can be downloaded as a PDF file become; Accessed September 21, 2012
  17. İsmet G. İmset: PKK: 20 years of separatist violence (PKK: Ayrılıkçı Şiddetin 20 Yılı) (1973-1992), Ankara, June 1993, ISBN 975-95711-0-2 , p. 129
  18. İsmet G. İmset, PKK, Ayrılıkçı Şiddetin 20 yılı (20 years of separatist violence), Ankara, June 1993, p. 125.
  19. The numbers result from a page in Turkish in the Wiki "B-Ob8ungen" with the title Temmuz 1987-Eylül 1990 arasında yaşam hakkı ihlalleri , accessed on September 21, 2012
  20. These calculations were also made in Turkish in the “B-Ob8ungen” wiki, an essential source being the PKK party organ, Serxwebun. See page 1980-1990 arası Türkiye'de yaşam hakkı ihlalleri ; Accessed September 21, 2012
  21. Number 84 of the Serxwebûn party organ of December 1988, p. 30. The edition can be downloaded from the Serxwebûn archive ( Memento of March 14, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) or page 30 ( Memento of March 14, 2014 in the Internet Archives ) can also be viewed separately; Accessed September 23, 2012
  22. Martin van Bruinessen: Forced evacuations and village demolitions in Dersim (Tunceli) and West-Bingöl ( Memento from January 20, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 4.7 MB), September – November 1994, report by the Stichting Nederlands-Koerdistan 1995 , Pp. 8, 35
  23. Boris Kalnoky: Northern Iraq: The Kurdish PKK benefits from poverty . In: THE WORLD . October 27, 2007 ( online [accessed July 14, 2018]).
  24. ^ Dexter Filkins: Kurds Are Finally Heard: Turkey Burned Our Villages . ( Online [accessed July 14, 2018]).
  25. ^ Found on December 1, 2008 under: Bianet's archive from December 7, 2006 ( Memento from November 22, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
  26. This study by Helmut Oberdiek can be read in Turkish under 1980-1990 arası Türkiye'de yaşam hakkı ihlalleri , accessed on September 21, 2012
  27. 1991 Annual Report of the Foundation for Human Rights in Turkey TIHV, Ankara January 1992 (Turkish, p. 62)
  28. 1992 annual report of the Foundation for Human Rights in Turkey TIHV, Ankara January 1993 (Turkish, p. 21)
  29. a b c d 1993 annual report of the Foundation for Human Rights in Turkey TIHV, Ankara June 1994 (Turkish, pp. 36–42)
  30. 1993 annual report of the Foundation for Human Rights in Turkey TIHV, Ankara June 1994 (Turkish, pp. 113–114)
  31. 1993 annual report of the Foundation for Human Rights in Turkey TIHV, Ankara June 1994 (Turkish, pp. 113–114)
  32. A report by IHD Diyarbakır from June 1996: The Burned and Evacuated Settlement Units with lists of the previously depopulated villages, p. 4.
  33. The figures in the list are said to come from the General Staff and were published by Nedim Şener in the daily Milliyet on June 24, 2010 ; Accessed September 23, 2012
  34. See the doctoral thesis by Türkmen Töreli, page 158: PKK TERÖR ÖRGÜTÜ (Tarihsel ve Siyasal Gelişim Süreci Bakımından İncelenmesi) ( Memento from December 24, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 4.7 MB); Accessed September 21, 2012
  35. This was reported by the Gazete Vatan portal on June 24, 2010 under the heading 26 yılın kanlı bilançosu , accessed on September 24, 2012
  36. a b The figures come from Helmut Oberdiek's archive, taking into account the Turkish press. Messages in Serxwebun were not taken into account.
  37. TIHV Annual Report 1992, p. 16, under the heading soldiers also police officers, village guards and defectors are recorded, under the heading militants also militants of other organizations and other armed persons such as smugglers are recorded.
  38. TIHV annual report 1993, p. 43
  39. TIHV Annual Report 1994, p. 51 (English)
  40. TIHV Annual Report 1995, p. 52
  41. TIHV Annual Report 1996, p. 65
  42. ^ IHD annual report 1997 with only one sum
  43. ^ IHD annual report 1998 with only one sum
  44. So said the chief of staff Güres in October 1994: "We will exterminate the robber gangs by drying up the sea to separate the fish from the water." Expert opinion at ecoi.net (PDF; 1.4 MB), accessed on 23. September 2012
  45. ^ Hürriyet Daily News of May 31, 2000 Heading home to an economic wasteland ( Memento of May 1, 2015 in the Internet Archive ); Accessed October 14, 2012
  46. See a special report by the Turkish Democratic Forum: Secret Service Activities of the Gendarmerie ; Accessed September 28, 2012
  47. See a 2000 Human Rights Watch report, What is Turkey's Hizbullah? ; Accessed September 28, 2012
  48. The figures are taken from the 2001 annual report of the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey. He can page no longer available , searching web archives: be downloaded as a PDF file ; Accessed September 23, 2012@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.tuerkeiforum.net
  49. There is a study on "disappeared" in Turkey between 1980 and 2000 in the Turkish language and in the English language ; Accessed September 23, 2012
  50. That comes from a study by Helmut Oberdiek in 2007. It can be found in Turkish under the title Silahlı Örgütlerin İhlalleri or in English under the title Killings by Armed Groups with corresponding links to the tables; Accessed September 23, 2012
  51. The work is entitled "Olağanüstü Hal Bölgesi'nde Eğitim ve Öğretim" (Training and teaching in the area under a state of emergency)
  52. See also a report by the NZZ from 11/1993 under the heading violence against violence ; Accessed September 24, 2012
  53. Details can be found in the Wiki B-Ob8ungen under the title Turkey: Killings by Armed Groups ; Accessed September 24, 2012
  54. See a report by the Turkish Democratic Forum of August 24, 2012 with the title Reports on kidnappings by the PKK ; Accessed September 24, 2012
  55. See TIHV Annual Report 1993 (Turkish), p. 81.
  56. See TIHV Annual Report 1994 (Turkish), pp. 103-104.
  57. The English text of the urgent action can be found on the website of the International Secretariat . Accessed September 24, 2012
  58. See the 1996 annual report of the TIHV, pp. 94-107.
  59. The events of the time can also be read in the report of the ( International Council for Human Rights Policies = ICHRP ) from 1999 with the title Approaches to armed groups ( Memento of July 23, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 310 kB) .
  60. See the 1997 annual report of the TIHV, pp. 164–165, the 1998 and 1999 annual reports do not contain any separate chapters, but individual messages that can be read under Reports on kidnappings by the PKK .
  61. : "Declared war on the Kurds" . In: Der Spiegel . tape March 14 , 1992 ( online [accessed August 29, 2018]).
  62. Hans Krech: The Civil War in Turkey (1978-1999) . a manual; with a foreign policy concept to combat mass unemployment in the Federal Republic of Germany. 1st edition. Publishing house Dr. Köster, 1999, ISBN 978-3-89574-360-3 , pp. 79 .
  63. Tamar Gabelnick, William D. Hartung, Jennifer Washburn: Arming Repression: US Arms Sales to Turkey During the Clinton administration. Federation of American Scientists, October 1999, accessed August 29, 2018 .
  64. Die presse.com of July 27, 2012: Two Turkish soldiers killed: PKK attack? ; Accessed September 25, 2012
  65. Details of the odyssey based on the descriptions of a journalist working in Ankara were translated into German by the Democratic Turkey Forum and can be found under Murat Yetkin: The USA hands over Apo of Turkey ( Memento of the original from March 5, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link became automatic used and not yet tested. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. to find; Accessed on September 25, 2012. A more sober description can be found in the 1999 Turkish annual report of the TIHV, pp. 25-26. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.tuerkeiforum.net
  66. Turkey: CIA help with Öcalan's arrest . In: Der Spiegel . February 21, 2000 ( online [accessed March 23, 2012]).
  67. Der Spiegel of February 22, 1999: Blood feud for Apo ; Accessed September 25, 2012
  68. a b See the //de.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Defekte_Weblinks&dwl= http://www.tihv.org.tr/download.php?f=fc89d1de5e76e7121ecde011ab71a01b&countonly=1&target=0 Page not more available ] , search in web archives: [ http://timetravel.mementoweb.org/list/2010/http://www.tihv.org.tr/download.php?f=fc89d1de5e76e7121ecde011ab71a01b&countonly=1&target=0 Turkish annual report 1999 of the TIHV, pp. 27-40.@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.tihv.org.tr
  69. This was determined in a judgment of the Darmstadt Administrative Court on January 14, 2003, citing the Foreign Office. On September 25, 2012, the verdict could be read at this address .
  70. a b c Compare the conflict barometer of the Heidelberg Institute for International Conflict Research for 2003 ( Memento from September 27, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 1.1 MB); Accessed September 25, 2012
  71. The figures in the official list were published by Nedim Şener in the daily Milliyet on June 24, 2010 ; next to it are figures that the human rights association IHD published on its website in a comparison with the years 1999 to 2010 (PDF; 221 kB). Accessed on September 25, 2012
  72. The Human Rights Association only published total figures.
  73. In the translation of a message in Özgür Politika of March 3, 2004, the Turkish Democratic Forum gave an overview of 6 years of the armistice , accessed on September 25, 2012
  74. See the report by Swiss Refugee Aid on Turkey (2007) ; Accessed September 25, 2012
  75. The annual reports for individual countries such as Turkey can be found on the Landmine and Cluster Munition Monitor website , accessed on September 25, 2012
  76. A report in Junge Welt from September 1, 2007 ; Accessed September 25, 2012
  77. See an article by Susanne Güsten in Focus from May 29, 2006 with the title Terror Destination Turkey Tourists ; Accessed September 25, 2012
  78. a b See report of Swiss Refugee Aid (SFH) Page no longer available , search in web archives: Turkey Update: Current developments from October 8, 2008@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.osar.ch
  79. A collection of such reports is available from the Turkish Democratic Forum in the October 2012 monthly report ; Accessed October 14, 2012
  80. Details on this have been presented by the Turkish Democratic Forum on the English pages under Security Zones in the South East .
  81. Declaration by the armed forces on Operation Sonne From the daily Milliyet of February 29, 2008 (Turkish)
  82. The table was created on the basis of information provided by the journalist Saygı Öztürk for the official figures and the comparative table of the IHD for the years 1999-2010 (PDF; 221 kB); Accessed on September 27, 2012
  83. Turkey's PKK talks ( Memento from March 15, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) In: Foreign Policy. Retrieved February 16, 2014
  84. ^ Secret meeting on the island , Spiegel online from June 20, 2011
  85. ^ Turkish troops in northern Iraq. In: Frankfurter Rundschau . October 20, 2011, accessed October 20, 2011 .
  86. Turkish troops invade northern Iraq. In: Frankfurter Rundschau . October 19, 2011, accessed October 19, 2011 .
  87. These figures determined by the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey were given in the December 2011 monthly report of the Turkish Democratic Forum; Accessed September 28, 2012
  88. See the daily newspaper Radikal of September 19, 2011, PKK yol kesip 1 vatandaşı öldürdü ; Accessed September 28, 2012
  89. Kurdish group professes to attack in Ankara In: Die Zeit. Retrieved February 16, 2014
  90. ^ Turkey concludes anti-Kurdish pact with Iran , Handelsblatt dated September 25, 2011, accessed on September 30, 2012
  91. ^ Kurdish rebels kidnap MPs. In: Spiegel Online . August 13, 2012, accessed August 13, 2012 .
  92. Assad has created 'terrorist state' in Syria, Erdoğan says ( Memento from September 6, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Website of the newspaper Today's Zaman. Retrieved October 15, 2012.
  93. The report, written in Turkish, can be downloaded as a PDF file ( Memento of August 13, 2012 in the Internet Archive ). The Turkish Democratic Forum (DTF) has published details of this in a special report in Turkish .
  94. The DTF published a detailed special report in German on the subject of kidnappings by the PKK on August 24, 2012 under the title Reports on kidnappings by the PKK , accessed on September 16, 2012.
  95. Michael Thumann: Erdoğan risks a war. In: Zeit Online. Zeit Online GmbH, August 25, 2012, accessed on August 25, 2012 .
  96. See the August 2012 monthly report of the Turkish Democratic Forum; Accessed September 28, 2012
  97. See the September 2012 monthly report of the Turkish Democratic Forum; Accessed September 28, 2012
  98. Negotiations with the head of the PKK In: the daily newspaper (taz). Retrieved March 22, 2013.
  99. Horror at the murder of three Kurdish women in the middle of Paris , RP article online
  100. ^ Paris killings 'attempt to derail PKK peace talks' In: Financial Times . Retrieved March 22, 2013.
  101. PKK free Turkish hostages to reinforce peace talks with Erdogan government In: The Guardian . Retrieved March 22, 2013
  102. Öcalan Calls For Ceasefire, Promotes Politics, Öcalan's full statement on Newroz 2013 In: bianet . Retrieved March 22, 2013.
  103. welt.de March 21, 2013: Imprisoned PKK boss Öcalan negotiates peace
  104. See the report of the Turkish Democratic Forum in April 2013 Commission of the Wise People meets ; accessed on March 21, 2014
  105. youtube.com
  106. spiegel.de
  107. Troubled prospects for peace In: FAZ. Retrieved August 28, 2013
  108. welt.de
  109. hurriyet.com.tr
  110. Four abducted Turkish soldiers released by PKK In: Hurriyet Daily News. Retrieved February 16, 2014
  111. Turkey: More than 30 dead in pro-Kurdish protests In: spiegel.de. Retrieved October 10, 2015
  112. ^ Ocalan calls for disarmament against Turkey , Süddeutsche Zeitung, February 28, 2015.
  113. Mike Szymanski: Great opportunity for a historic step , Süddeutsche Zeitung, March 6, 2015.
  114. PKK takes a stand against Öcalan. PKK does not want to lay down its arms. In: taz.de . taz Verlags u. Vertriebs GmbH, March 1, 2015, accessed on July 2, 2020 .
  115. Deniz Yücel : “It is up to Erdogan to make peace” , Die Welt, September 19, 2016.
  116. PKK is committed to attack on police officers ( memento from July 22, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) In: tagesschau.de Retrieved on July 22, 2015
  117. Polis, operasyonda öldürdüğü Günay Özarslan'ın cenazesini ailesine teslim etmiyor In: birgun.net. Retrieved July 25, 2015
  118. Turkey fights against two opponents In: Tagesschau.de. Retrieved July 25, 2015
  119. NATO convenes special session on Turkey ( Memento from July 28, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) In: tagesschau.de. Retrieved July 26, 2015
  120. See Spiegel online from July 28, 2015 Erdogan suspends peace process with Kurds ; Accessed December 19, 2015
  121. A summary of the report and references here: Monthly report November 2015 of the Turkish Democratic Forum (DTF); Accessed December 19, 2015
  122. The message, which has been translated into German, can be found at the DTF in the December 2015 monthly report ; Accessed December 19, 2015
  123. See Bianet of December 10, 2015 6 Ayda 5 Ay 13 Gün Evlerinden Çıkamadılar ; Accessed December 19, 2015
  124. Kurdish militants reportedly shoot down Turkish security forces helicopters . Washington Post. May 14, 2016. Retrieved May 15, 2016.