Turkey’s PKK Conflict: A Visual Explainer

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Context: Turkey’s conflict with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) – recognised as a terrorist organisation by Turkey, the U.S. and the EU – continues in south-eastern Turkey and northern Iraq. In northern Syria, Ankara and the PKK’s Syrian affiliate, the People’s Protection Forces (YPG), remain pitted against each other. On the home front, the government is pursuing crackdown on the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP). On 7 June, Turkey’s chief public prosecutor refiled a criminal case for the closure of the HDP.

Battleground: The period between 1 May and 8 June saw major escalation mainly concentrated in northern Iraq. In May 2021 Crisis Group recorded the highest number of fatalities since September 2020. Tensions rose after the Turkish military continued with its land and air operations targeting PKK militants in northern Iraq. In notable escalation, on 5 June, Turkey carried out drone strikes near the Makhmur camp with officials claiming it functions as an “incubator” for militants. The strikes reportedly resulted in the death of three civilians. The same day, five KDP Peshmerga forces were killed in a PKK-attributed attack in the Dohuk area.  

Analysis: Prospects for non-violent ways forward look bleak amid uncertainty in Syria, Iraq and the Turkish political leadership’s reliance on support from nationalists at home.