Revolutionary Party of Kurdistan, known as Kürdistan Devrim Partisi in Turkish and Partiya Şoreşa Kürdistan (PŞK) in Kurdish is an illegal political party active in Turkey

Turkey

Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...

. The aim of the party is to create an independent state for Kurdish people based on Marxist-Leninist principles.

History

Revolutionary Party of Kurdistan is a splinter of the Sociality Unity Party of Kurdistan, known as Kürdistan Sosyalist Birlik Partisi in Turkish and Partiya Yekitiya Sosyalista Kürdistane in Kurdish. Sociality Unity Party of Kurdistan annulled itself in July 1998 after a meeting in Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

. As a result the central committee of YEKBUN or the United People's Party of Kurdistan (Kürdistan Birleşik Halk Partisi in Turkish), resident in Sweden

Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

, decided to form a new organization to carry out armed struggle against the Turkish government. The organization was named Revolutionary Union of Kurdistan (Kürdistan Devrim Birliği in Turkish,Yektiye Şoreşa Kürdistan in Kurdish) first. However the central committee later changed "union" with "party" thinking taking into consideration that there was no unity yet; so the Revolutionary Party of Kurdistan was born.

After the capture of Abdullah Öcalan

Abdullah Öcalan

Abdullah Öcalan , Kurdish founder of the terrorist organization called Kurdistan Workers' Party in 1978.Öcalan was captured in Nairobi and extradited to the Turkish security force, and sentenced to death under Article 125 of the Turkish Penal Code, which concerns the formation of armed gangs...

 by Turkish forces in 1999 and the resulting retreat of Kurdistan Workers Party

Kurdistan Workers Party

The Kurdistan Workers' Party , commonly known as PKK, also known as KGK and formerly known as KADEK or KONGRA-GEL , is a Kurdish organization which has since 1984 been fighting an armed struggle against the Turkish state for an autonomous Kurdistan and greater cultural and political rights...

, better known as PKK, the Party tried to attract their members, albeit without a remarkable success. The organisation was not successful either in giving a significant damage to Turkish forces or creating public awareness about themselves.

Designation as a terrorist organisation

According to the Counter-Terrorism and Operations Department of Directorate General for Security (Turkish police

Law enforcement in Turkey

Law enforcement in Turkey is carried out by several departments and agencies, all acting under the command of the Prime Minister of Turkey or mostly the Minister of Internal Affairs....

) it is one of the 12 active terrorist organisations in Turkey and one of the three Kurdish separatist organisations.

See also

• List of political parties in Turkey
• Communist Party of Turkey
  Communist Party of Turkey
  The Communist Party of Turkey was a political party in Turkey. The party was founded by Mustafa Suphi in 1920, and was soon to be banned. It worked as a clandestine opposition party throughout the Cold War era, and was persecuted by the various military regimes. Many intellectuals, like Nazım...
  
  for a list of communist parties in Turkey