1978: Formation of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK):
The Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) was founded in 1978 by a group of primarily Kurdish students in Turkey who sought to address the systemic inequality and lack of rights faced by the Kurdish population. Emerging as a movement for Kurdish autonomy and recognition, the PKK quickly became a central force challenging the authority of the Turkish state, sparking decades of armed conflict that would reshape the region’s political and social landscape. The Turkish government responded with harsh measures, and Kurdish communities across Turkey endured severe repression, including military campaigns, mass arrests, and restrictions on cultural expression.
The conflict escalated further in 1999 when PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan was captured in Nairobi in a joint operation involving the CIA, Mossad, and Turkey’s MIT intelligence agency. He was paraded on Turkish media as a traitor and initially sentenced to death, but because Turkey was pursuing membership in the European Union, which prohibits capital punishment, his sentence was commuted to life imprisonment. Öcalan was held in isolation as the sole prisoner on the remote island of Ä°mralı. His capture triggered massive and violent protests both in Turkey and across Europe, as Kurds demanded his release.
Despite Turkey’s efforts, the PKK remained a formidable opponent. Its fighters, based in the impenetrable mountains of Qandil along the Iraqi-Kurdish border, continued to resist Turkish offensives, leaving the Turkish military unable to decisively defeat them. Turkish intelligence agents also conducted targeted assassinations of individuals with PKK ties in Turkey, the Middle East, and Europe, intensifying the cycle of violence. At the same time, Kurdish political expression within Turkey was systematically suppressed: parties were banned under accusations of affiliation with the PKK, and hundreds of Kurdish parliamentarians, governors, and mayors were arrested, many of whom remain imprisoned today. This ongoing repression not only deepened Kurdish grievances but also cemented the PKK’s role as both a political and military symbol of Kurdish resistance.
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