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Kongra-Gel (KGK)
The KGK, formerly the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), is a Kurdish separatist group primarily active in part of northern Iraq and southern Turkey. The group—composed mostly of Turkish Kurds—began its campaign of armed violence, including terrorism, in 1984, which has since resulted in over 30,000 deaths. The KGK’s stated goal is to create an independent Kurdish state. Historically, KGK has directed members to target mainly Turkish security forces, government offices, and villagers who opposed the group; however, KGK’s imprisoned leader Abdullah Ocalan publicly called for a KGK “unilateral cease-fire” in October 2006, which in practice meant stopping terrorist attacks and limiting violence to “defensive” attacks against Turkish soldiers and security forces.
Despite the unilateral cease fire, attacks continued in response to Turkish security operations against the group. In particular, the KGK-affiliated Kurdistan Freedom Hawks (TAK) began using terrorist tactics—including suicide bombings—and targeting tourist destinations in 2005 in order to damage the Turkish economy. Using the KGK-affiliated Firat News Agency Web site, the group threatened in March 2007 that it would continue targeting Turkish tourist sites, specifically citing the February 2007 arrests of KGK members in Europe and warning that “we [TAK] are going in particular to target European tourists.” |
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