page_title: Kurdistan Workers' Party
section_title: July 2015–present: Third insurgency
hierarchical_section_title: Kurdistan Workers' Party / Activities / July 2015–present: Third insurgency
caption_attribution_description: English: PKK and Peshmerga fighters
context_page_description: The Kurdistan Workers' Party or PKK is a Kurdish militant and political organization based in the Kurdish regions of Turkey and Iraq. Since 1984, the PKK has been involved in an armed conflict with the Turkish state, with the initial aim of achieving an independent Kurdish state. The Kurdistan Workers' Party is designated as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States, the European Union, Australia and Japan.
  The PKK was founded in November 1978 in the village of Fis, by a group of Kurdish students led by Abdullah Öcalan. Öcalan was elected the General Secretary and Hayri Durmuş, Kemal Pir, Cemîl Bayik, Kesire Yildirim, Mazlum Doĝan, Mehmet Karasungur and Şahin Dönmez were part of the Central Committee.
  It announced its existence the following year. The PKK's ideology was originally a fusion of revolutionary socialism and Kurdish nationalism, seeking the foundation of an independent communist Kurdistan. The initial reasons given by the PKK for this were the oppression of Kurds in Turkey and under capitalism. At this time, the use of the Kurdish language, dress, folklore, and names were banned by the Turkish state, including the words "Kurds" and "Kurdistan".
context_section_description: In the months before the parliamentary election of 2015, as the "Kurdish-focused" HDP's likelihood of crossing the 10% threshold for entry into the government seemed more likely, Erdogan gave speeches and made comments that repudiated the settlement process and the existence of a Kurdish problem and refusing to recognize the HDP as having any role to play despite their long participation as intermediaries. These announcements increased distrust of the government's good faith among Kurdish leaders.
  In July 2015, Turkey finally became involved in the war against ISIL. While they were doing so, they decided to bomb PKK targets in Iraq. The bombings came a few days after PKK was suspected of assassinating two Turkish police officers in Ceylanpınar, Şanlıurfa, criticized by the PKK of having links with ISIS after the 2015 Suruç bombing. The PKK has blamed Turkey for breaking the truce by bombing the PKK in 2014 and 2015 continuously.
  In August 2015, the PKK announced that they would accept another ceasefire with Turkey only under US guarantees. PKK announced a one-sided ceasefire in October 2015 near election time, but the government refused. The leadership of Iraqi Kurdistan has condemned the Turkish airstrikes in its autonomous region in the north of Iraq.
  The number of casualties since 23 July was stated by Turkish government to be 150 Turkish officers and over 2,000 Kurdish rebels killed (by September). In December 2015, Turkish military operation in southeastern Turkey has killed hundreds of civilians, displaced hundreds of thousands and caused massive destruction in residential areas.
  In March 2016, the PKK helped to launch the Peoples' United Revolutionary Movement with nine other Kurdish and Turkish revolutionary leftist, socialist and communist groups (including the TKP/ML, THKP-C/MLSPB, MKP, TKEP/L, TİKB, DKP, DK and MLKP) with the aim of overthrowing the Turkish government of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
caption: PKK and Peshmerga fighters, 11 August 2015
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