For more than four decades, Turkey has been fighting an armed rebellion by the Kurdistan Working Party or PKK, a militant group that says he is seeking greater rights for the Kurdish minority of the country.
More than 40,000 people were killed in the conflict, in the attacks of PKK on military and civilian goals, and Turkish military operations against militants and communities containing them. Turkey, the United States and other countries consider the terrorist organization of the group.
Now, the founder of the group, Abdullah fatherly, has invited Kurdish fighters to lay their hands – Although it remains unclear how effective his complaint will be and what if nothing else, the Turkish government offers a group in exchange for the end of the fight.
Here’s what to know about PKK in his conflict with Turkish.
Who are PKK?
The group launched an armed rebellion against the Turkish state in the early 1980s, originally seeking independence for the Kurds, which is believed to make up about 15 percent or more of the Turkish population.
Starting from the mountains in East and South Turkey, PKK fighters attacked Turkish military bases and police station, stimulating sharp government responses. Later, the conflict spread to other parts of the country, with devastating PKK bombing in Turkish cities where many civilians killed.
In 1999, Turkey captured Mr. Fireman and condemned him to run an armed terrorist organization. He received a death penalty that was later left to a lifetime prison. It remains a respected group members.
From his prison, Mr. Father’s Ideology rejected his ideology from secession and according to the Kurdish rights within Turkey.
During the last decade, the Turkish army has directed the forces of PKK from the Majori Kurdish cities in Southeast Turkey, while using unmanned spacecraft to kill her leaders and fighters, interfering with his ability to organize and carry out the attack.
The conflict has been in small years, although the occasional attacks of PKK have revived the fear of a wider conflict. Last year, a small composition of his militants came to the headquarters of the State Air Force Company armed with rifles and explosives and killed Five employees Before the security forces received control.
Who are the Kurds?
Kurds are an ethnic group of approximately 40 million people – there are broadly different estimates – concentrated in Iran, Iraq, Syria and Turkey.
They speak more dialects of Kurdish, a language that is not directly associated with Turkish or Arabic. Most are Sunni Muslims.
After World War I, the Kurds promised their own nation by their own nations, but it was never approved. There were Kurdish rebels in various countries during the following generations, and the Kurds faced the state suppression of their language and culture.
In Syria, the Syrian democratic forces led by Kurdski, whose leaders have roots in PKK and follow the ideology of Mr. October, control the northeast part of the country. They were supported by the United States for years and played a key role in the defeat of the Islamic State, but the fall of Syrian stronger Bashara Al-Assad in December has it they left their future status unclear. They clash with Syrian rebels who support Turkish and remain beyond the control of the new Syrian government in Damascus.
Since the Gulf War of 1991, mostly the Kurdska northern region of Iraq has been a semi -automatic. The leadership of PKK is now based in Qandil mountains in Northern Iraq. In recent years, Turkey has attacked a group and associated militia in Iraq and Syria while lobbying the Iraqi government to expel it.
How did peaceful efforts apply?
Multiple efforts to freeze or end the conflict of Turkey-PKK have been done, starting with the break of fire in 1993, but all collapsed, often leading to a larger bloodshed.
Violence blamed and turned off until a new circle of peace negotiations began in 2011. At that time, Turkish intelligence officers met with Mr. Father’s prison to copy the plan to disarm his fighters, and Kurdish politicians took out messages between him and his associates in Northern Iraq.
But the procedure collapsed in mid -2015, with each side blaming the other for failure. This was followed by one of the most deadly stages of conflict, with struggles in the cities in the southeast of Turkey, which killed more than 7,000 people, According to the international crisis group.
Will this time be different?
Although Turkey still considers PKK a separatist terrorist group This is not represented by the Kurdish people, acknowledged some historical violations of the Kurdish rights and expanded the margins for the Kurdish language and culture.
He had licensing television and radio emissions of the Kurdish languages and enabled the Kurdish language as an election course in some schools.
At the same time, however, the Government removed more than 150 elected Kurdish mayors from its posts since 2015, according to the party for equality and democracy of the people, which politically represents the pro-curish movement and has places in parliament.
Most removed mayors were accused and some convicted of crimes associated with PKK
Human Rights Watch has called the removal of Kurdish mayors of politically motivated and a violation of voter rights.
