Kurdistan Workers' Party
The Congress for Freedom and Democracy in Kurdistan (Kadek), formerly known as the Kurdistan Workers Party (Kurdish: Partiya Karkerên Kurdistan or PKK) was one of several militant groups fighting for the creation of an independent Kurdish state in southern Turkey, northern Iraq, Northern Syria and western Iran. It arose from a radical youth movement in Turkey during the 1970s proclaiming itself a revolutionary socialist national liberation movement following a Marxist-Leninist doctrine.
The group became Kadek in April 2002. On November 11, 2003 Kadek announced that it would disband, to be replaced by a new group with "a new, more democratic organisational structure that allows for broader participation". The new group is People's Congress of Kurdistan (KONGRA GEL), the actual successor of PKK being PRD (Democratic Liberation Party) founded in 2003.
Since 1978 the group was led by Abdullah Öcalan with its armed activities mainly directed towards the Turkish military and Governmental institutes in the kurdish region of Turkey.Reports are there that it has received safehaven and modest aid from Syria, Iraq, and Iran. In addition, the PKK was active in Western Europe targeting Turkish interests including diplomatic facilities, apparent with the attacks and riots in major European cities ([1] and [2]) after the capture of Öcalan at the Greek Embassy in Kenya in a joint operation between the CIA and MIT (Milli Istihbarat Teskilati).
Numerous events in history have left several million Kurds in the Middle East stateless, primarily in Turkey and northern Iraq where most of its members are based. As a result of the violence, more than 30,000 people have been killed, a great many of which were innocent civilians, killed during the conflict. Estimates of the total number of villagers in Turkish Kurdistan forcibly evacuated from their homes varies according to which side provides the figures.
Turkish authorities captured PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan in Kenya in early 1999 and a Turkish Court subsequently sentenced him to death for treason. In August 1999, Öcalan announced a peace initiative, ordering members to refrain from violence and requesting dialogue with the government of Turkey on Kurdish issues.
In 2002 the government of Turkey accepted certain conditions for entry into the European Union including abolition of the death penalty which will spare the life of Abdullah Öcalan, plus changes to official government policy on basic human rights, which its Kurdish population will largely benefit.
In 2004 the armed wing of PKK, HPG (People's Forces of Defence) announced that they ended the unilateral truce they had sustained since the time of Öcalan's capture.
The Council of the European Union (the 15 EU governments) decided on April 2, 2004 to update the European Union list of terrorist organisations to include Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK)(a.k.a. KADEK, a.k.a. KONGRA-GEL). Also, the US Treasury has amended its regulations in 2004 to include all the aliases and off-shoots of PKK in its sanctions list maintained by OFAC (Office of Foreign Assets Control). The list aims at blocking terrorist property. The organisations currently listed under the PKK aliases item include Congress for Freedom and Democracy in Kurdistan, KADEK, KONGRA-GEL, HSK, KHK and PKK.