Author(s)

Hanefi Yazıcı

Department of Political Sciences and International Relations, Faculty of Economics and Administration Sciences, Bandirma Onyedi Eylül University, Balikesir, Turkey.

This paper examines the profile of the PKK (Kurdish Workers’ Party) and distinguishes Kurdish issue from terrorism in Turkey. PKK’s profile has changed depending on Turkey’s internal politics under AK Party governments as well as the changing international environment particularly in Syria and demands a federation of Kurds that is independent Kurdistan in southeastern Turkey. The first part of this article addresses the objectives of the PKK and its violence and terrorism in pursuit of Kurdish secession from the Republic of Turkey leading to thousands of military and civilian deaths over the past decades. The second part assesses the problem focusing on whether PKK truly represents Kurds in Turkey. The third section tries to answer the question of who provides the logistical and financial support for PKK since it is still controversial whether the US and the EU both classify the PKK as a terrorist organization ingenuously. The last section evaluates political solution to the PKK problem, which is now being voiced in both Turkey and Western countries particularly in US.

Kurdish, Rebellion, Republic of Turkey, US, EU, PKK

Yazıcı, H. (2016) PKK Terrorism in Turkey. Open Journal of Political Science, 6, 310-315. doi: 10.4236/ojps.2016.63027.