Kurdish–Turkish conflict (1978–present)

Kurdish–Turkish conflict
Kurdish-Turkish conflict

Part of the Kurdish rebellions

Thematic map, general view over the Kurdish – Turkish conflict

Date

c. 27 November 1978–present
(38 years, 3 months, 1 week and 4 days)

Location

Eastern and Southeastern Turkey, spillovers in Northern Iraq and Northern Syria

Status

Ongoing:

Peace process attempt during 2012–15
Escalation since September 2014 due to Kobane crisis
Renewed warfare since July 2015

Belligerents

Turkey

Other forces:

Deep state

Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK)

PKK
- HPG
- YJA-STAR
PJAK

YDG-H:

YPS
YPS-Jin

HBDH

Supported by:

Armenia
Cyprus
Greece
Russia
Soviet Union (until 1991)
Iran
Syria (until October 1998; from 2012)
Iraq (until 2003)
Libya (until 2006)
Egypt (since 2016 allegedly)
ASALA (1970s–1988)

Kurdistan Freedom Hawks

Commanders and leaders

Current commanders
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
Binali Yıldırım
Hulusi Akar

Current commanders
Murat Karayılan
Bahoz Erdal
Cemil Bayık
Mustafa Karasu
Duran Kalkan
Ali Haydar Kaytan ()
Zübeyir Aydar
Haji Ahmadi

Past commanders:

Strength

Turkish Armed Forces: 639,551:
Gendarmerie: 148,700
Police: 225,000
Village Guards: 65,000

Total: 948,550
(not all directly involved in the conflict)

PKK: 4,000–32,800

PJAK: 1,000–3,000
TAK: A few dozen
Total: ≈5,000–32,800

Casualties and losses

5,347 soldiers, 283 police officers and 1,466 village guards killed, 95 captured (24 currently held)
Total: 7,230 killed and 21,128 wounded
(Turkish claim)

Total: 12,522 killed and 33,788 wounded

(PKK claim)

Total: 31,874 killed and 19,013 captured
(Turkish claim)

Total killed: 50,000–55,000

Civilian Casualties:
6,741 killed and 14,257 wounded (Turkish claim)
5,000 killed (until 2000; 3,438 by the Turkish government & 1,205 by the PKK; independent research and NGOs)
18,000–20,000 Kurds executed and 2,400–4,000+ villages destroyed by the Turkish government (independent human rights reports and other estimates)
17,000 missing

3,000,000+ displaced

Turkish Hezbollah also known as Kurdish Hezbollah or just Hizbullah in Turkey, is a mainly Sunni Islamist militant organization, active against the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and the Government of Turkey.

Name	Short	Leader	Active
People's Labor Party	HEP	Ahmet Fehmi Işıklar	1990–1993
Democracy Party	DEP	Yaşar Kaya	1993–1994
People's Democracy Party	HADEP	Murat Bozlak	1994–2003
Democratic People's Party	DEHAP	Tuncer Bakırhan	1997–2005
Democratic Society Movement	DTH	Leyla Zana	2005
Democratic Society Party	DTP	Ahmet Türk	2005–2009
Peace and Democracy Party	BDP	Gültan Kışanak, Selahattin Demirtaş	2008–2014
Democratic Regions Party	DBP	Emine Ayna, Kamûran Yüksek	2014–present
Peoples' Democratic Party	HDP	Figen Yüksekdağ, Selahattin Demirtaş	2012–present