Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK

The ERNK was primarily responsible for PKK operations in Europe, while the ARGK organized domestic militant activities.39 In 2005, the PKK implemented its second phase of organizational structure, forming the Kongra-Gel.40 In this structure, the PKK was headed by Öcalan as the honorary president, the Kongra-Gel acted as the legislative body, and the KKK (Kurdish Democratic Foundation) acted as the. [...] In the fifth congress of the Kongra-Gel in 2007, the PKK moved to adopt a new organizational structure, with the KCK as the transnational head and the PKK as Turkey’s regional branch.45 The KCK serves as an umbrella organization including the PKK and other Kurdish movements in Syria (PYD), Iraq (PÇDK), and Iran (PJAK).46 The KCK has judicial, legislative, and executive bodies, as well as the follo. [...] designation of the PKK as a foreign terrorist organization treats the group as synonymous with the Kongra-Gel.50 The Patriotic Revolutionary Youth Movement (YDG-H) is the urban-based youth unit of the PKK.51 In 2015, the YDG-H was allegedly incorporated into the PKK as part of the Civilian Protection Units (YBS).52 That same year, the YDG-H attacked Turkish local security forces and effectively in. [...] The YBS is a militia group affiliated with the PKK formed in 2015 and active throughout 2016 in the insurgency in the southeast. [...] Some women were indoctrinated at a young age and sent to avenge killed relatives, while others fled unwanted marriages.83 In 2013, the PKK instituted a system of male and female co-chairs of the KCK and appointed three women to the KCK’s six-person General Council.84 Training The PKK trains militants in both small- and large-scale camps located primarily in the mountains in Iraq and Turkey.