THE KURDISH Workers Party, the PKK, was founded by Abdullah Ocalan in 1974.
It took up arms against Turkey in 1984 with the aim of creating an ethnic homeland in the southeast. More than 40,000 people have been killed in the conflict since then.
It is classified as a terrorist organisation by Ankara, the United States and the European Union.
Ocalan was captured and sentenced to death by a Turkish court in 1999, but the sentence was reduced to life imprisonment in October 2002 after Turkey abolished the death penalty.
The level of violence declined after Ocalan’s capture. Most of the remaining 4,000 PKK fighters are based in the mountains of northern Iraq.
After his capture, Ocalan emphasised the importance of winning rights for the Kurds through a political rather than an armed struggle. In July, he sent word through his lawyers that he had agreed with Turkish officials to set up a “peace council” aimed at ending the conflict.
The Turkish government had lifted some restrictions on Kurdish cultural and political rights to try to end the conflict. Kurds say Erdogan’s “democratic opening” was just rhetoric and that restrictions and mass arrests of Kurdish politicians in the southeast have continued.
Citing a lack of progress, Ocalan said in May 2010 there was no point in continuing peace efforts. On June 1st, 2010, the PKK formally scrapped a 14-month unilateral ceasefire.
The PKK declared a new “period of non-action” in August 2010 but ended the ceasefire in February this year, moving to what it called “active defence”. On Tuesday this week, Ocalan sent a message through his brother after meeting in his prison cell, saying resuming peace talks depended on Turkey if they “open the door”. It was the first message from Ocalan in months. – (Reuters)