# Israel–PKK relations

The Israel–PKK relations refers to the relations between Israel and the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). The PKK adhered to an Anti-Zionist stance and opposed Israel, as part of Abdullah Öcalan's teachings. When the PKK was based in the Beqaa Valley in the 1980s, it clashed with the IDF many times.

## Background

The PKK's ideology started off as a Marxism–Leninism with a blend of Kurdish nationalism. Marxist-Leninists have a long history of hostility towards Zionism. However, the PKK's ideology later shifted to Democratic confederalism, a left-wing, libertarian socialist, anti-capitalist, and internationalist ideology which also goes against Zionism. Democratic confederalism aims to replace ethnostates and capitalism with administrative councils elected by locals, allowing the people to have autonomous control over themself while linking themself to other communities via a network of confederal councils. Democratic confederalism also hopes to dissolve the United Nations. Abdullah Öcalan frequently stated his Anti-Zionist stance and also made negative statements towards the existence of Israel. Various leading members of the PKK, such as Mustafa Karasu, Duran Kalkan, Cemîl Bayik, and Besê Hozat, have also made negative statements towards Zionism and Israel.
In a comment submitted to Internationalist Commune, Mustafa Karasu confirmed the PKK's official stance on Israel, stating that "since the emergence of the PKK, we have been against Zionism. We compared the genocide of the Kurds in Turkey with Israeli Zionism and the Apartheid regime of South Africa. Since its founding, the PKK has fought side by side with the Palestinians. In 1982, 13 of our cadres fell in the fight against the occupation of Lebanon by Israel. The Israeli state also participated in the international conspiracy against Abdullah Öcalan, and murdered four of our comrades in Berlin. No doubt, we will never forget the support the Palestinians gave to the Kurdish people in the 1980s. Our attitude towards Zionism has always been ideological. Until today, we stand on the side of the Palestinians and all those who are fighting for a democratic solution in the region."

## Military clashes

The PKK relocated to the Beqaa Valley in Lebanon after its expulsion from Turkey. Hafez al-Assad supported the PKK. PKK militants received training in PLO camps, and formed their own camps later when there was a considerable amount of trained PKK fighters who learned to teach as well. The 1982 Lebanon War broke out, in which the PKK fought alongside the PLO and ASALA against Israel and its allied Christian militias. The PKK ordered its entire personnel to fight against the Israeli forces, who had launched an invasion in southern Lebanon. A total of 13 PKK fighters were killed during the war. In 1986, the PKK established the Mahsum Korkmaz Academy in Beqaa Valley, which became their largest training camp. The Mahsum Korkmaz Academy remained a training camp for PKK recruits until Turkey pressured the Syrian government to convince the to PKK close it. The PKK relocated to Damascus in 1992 and reopened the training camp. The DFLP and PFLP deciding to shelter the PKK in Beqaa Valley had a huge impact on the ideology of the first generation of the PKK. In the Beqaa Valley, the PKK had transformed from a small armed group to a significant guerrilla force. PKK fighters also had a stronger belief in the Marxist concept, the friendship of peoples, because of their experience in Beqaa Valley.
The Israeli army arrested 15 PKK militants and took them to an Israeli prison in the occupied city of Ansar, Lebanon. The PKK mentioned the detentions in the June 1984 edition of its official magazine, and featured drawings and poetry from the incarcerated militants, in which they told their experiences of being beaten by Israeli interrogators, who made racist comments on Kurds. They also claimed that the Israeli interrogators had invited Turkish interrogators to the prisons and further abused the PKK prisoners.
Turkey repeatedly demanded Syria to cut ties with the PKK, although Syria continued to support and shelter the PKK. In 1998, after Syria ignored several Turkish warnings, Turkish forces were deployed to the borders. Israeli troops also threatened Syrian presence in Lebanon and were already deployed to the Israeli border with Syria. As the Syrian government did not want to fight a war on two sides against allied fronts, Hafez al-Assad signed the Adana Agreement on October 20, in which he cut ties with the PKK and designated it a terrorist group. The PKK relocated to the Qandil Mountains in 1998.
In the Qandil Mountains, the PKK became more focused on its insurgency against Turkey, and its insurgency against the Kurdistan Region which was dominated by the KDP. Israel later confirmed its support for the KRG while maintaining its opposition to the PKK.

## Relations

After the relocation to Qandil Mountains in 1998, Abdullah Öcalan began traveling to various countries. On February 15, 1999, he was captured in Kenya on his way to the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport after leaving the Greek embassy. His arrest was done by the MİT and CIA, allegedly with help from Mossad. The CIA reportedly transferred him to the MIT, who flew him to Turkey for arrest and trial. Duran Kalkan accused the United States, the United Kingdom, and Israel of involvement in the arrest of Öcalan.
After the arrest, the Government of Greece entered a period of crisis, in which Theodoros Pangalos, Alekos Papadopoulos, and Philipos Petsalnikos resigned from their posts. It was also alleged that four days before the arrest, Kenyan locals had warned the Greek embassy to relocate Öcalan for his own safety, although Pangalos assured them that there was no need.
Öcalan's arrest led to havoc across the Kurdish community and diaspora, in which they held protests in front of Greek and Israeli embassies worldwide condemning his capture. A group of PKK supporters attempted to attack the Israeli consulate in Berlin in retaliation. Israeli guards killed 3 Kurds and injured 16 more. Kurds in Germany were threatened with deportation by German authorities if they continued the protests. It was this attack which prompted Israel to increase security in its embassies and consulates worldwide.
Israeli politician Avigdor Lieberman allegedly recommended that Israel could establish relations with the PKK and arm them and fund them. The PKK rejected it and reiterated its opposition to Israel. The PKK's new leader, Murat Karayılan, also demanded that Israel apologise for their alleged involvement in the capture of Abdullah Öcalan.
In 2017, Benjamin Netanyahu stated that Israel rejects the PKK and considers it a terrorist organization, and called on Turkey to return the favor by considering Hamas a terrorist organization. Mustafa Karasu, a PKK leader, condemned the United States recognition of Jerusalem as capital of Israel in 2018, and said that Jerusalem cannot be a Jewish city, but should be a city with special status in which all religions are respected. In May 2018, after the United States moved its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, protests happened at the Gaza border, in which Israeli troops killed several Palestinians. The PKK, and the HDP, frequently accused by Turkey of being the PKK political wing, condemned the killings and called for an end to violence. The HDP also criticized the ruling AKP and MHP coalition for rejecting the petition from the HDP for Turkey to cease all trade with Israel.
When asked about the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, Murat Karayılan stated that he would support whatever ended the conflict, even if it was a two-state solution. He also claimed that democratic confederalism was the only true solution to the conflict, and all conflicts of the Middle East. Duran Kalkan also supported the implementation of democratic confederalism to solve the conflict, not a one-state or two-state solution. He also stated his belief that democratic confederalism was the only system which guaranteed peace between all the different ethnicities and religions in the Middle East.
In late 2022, a settlement was built in Turkish-occupied Afrin, previously under SDF control. The settlement was housed Palestinians, and included 75 housing complexes to house 220 families, built in the Jindires district. It drew much criticism from Syrian Kurds, especially supporters of the YPG, a group allied with the PKK. Riyad Al-Malki, the Foreign Minister for the Palestinian National Authority, stated "we reject the settlement of any Palestinian in Afrin and other Kurdish areas". He also said that the State of Palestine had no involvement in the construction of the settlement, and that they opposed anything which abused Kurds and their land. It was later discovered that an Israeli bank was helping fund the Qatari-Turkish settlement of Palestinians in Afrin. A Pakistani organization was also involved in the funding and settling.
In 2023, PKK leader Duran Kalkan compared Israel with Turkey. He states that "three years after World War I, Turkey was established, through which the capitalist imperialist system attempted to dominate the Middle East. Three years after World War II, Israel was established, again under the lead of Britain, and Israel was included in the hegemony war waged in the region."
He then said that Israel and Turkey cooperate "on the basis of a racist, chauvinist and genocidal understanding and policies." Kalkan denied the existence of Israeli-Turkish tensions and said that "sometimes it looks like there is contradiction and conflict between the Israeli and Turkish states, but this is a game they play to mask the reality and deceive the people." He stated that Israel was involved in the Kurdish–Turkish conflict "because Jewish nationalism considers Kurdistan to be Israeli territory." He claimed that he was not antisemitic.
In a reaction to Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's stance on the 2023 Israel–Hamas war, Murat Karayılan called Erdoğan a "self-serving figure", and also claimed that Erdoğan would support anyone as long as it benefits him. He called on Palestinians not to believe Erdoğan, stating that "he is a businessman. He plays both sides. When it suits him, he is with Israel, when it suits him, he is with Palestine." Karayılan claimed that Erdoğan's frequent political shifts were caused by a lack of sincerity, a lack of commitment to the same Islamic principles that he preached, and overall selfishness and opportunism.