"The Big Question: Who are the PKK, and could they draw Turkey into the Iraq conflict? By Peter Popham Published: 23 October 2007 Where do the PKK come from?
The Kurdistan Workers' Party, established in 1970, is a Marxist-Leninist and nationalist Kurdish guerrilla group that since the mid-1980s has been using violence to push for an independent Kurdish state in south-east Turkey. Some half of Turkey's Kurdish population – 15 per cent of Turkey's total of 73 million – is concentrated in the region. The party is proscribed as a terrorist group in the UK, the US and several other countries. In the past 10 years its demands have moderated to autonomy within Turkey. It suffered a major reverse in 1999 when its leader, Abdullah Ocalan, was captured but in 2004 felt sufficiently strong to resume its campaign of violence. Since the armed struggle began, some 37,000 people have died."
More:The Big Question: Who are the PKK, and could they draw Turkey into the Iraq conflict? - Independent Online Edition > Europe