People's Defence Forces

The People's Defence Forces (Kurdish: Hêzên Parastina Gel‎, HPG) is the military wing of the group Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). During the 7th Congress of the PKK in January 2000, the HPG replaced the former military wing of the PKK, the People's Liberation Army of Kurdistan (Artêşa Rizgariya Gêle Kurdistan, ARGK). The replacement was intended to demonstrate the search for a peaceful solution of the Kurdish-Turkish conflict, after the capture of Abdullah Öcalan in 1999.[9] The HPG played an active in the peace negotiations between the Turkish Government and the PKK in 2013, as it hosted a delegation consisting of several politicians from the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) and members of the Turkish Human Rights Association (IHD) and agreed to release soldiers of the Turkish army as well as a Turkish politician, who they held captive.[10] In 2014, the HPG was involved in the fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) in Sinjar.[11]

Not to be confused with People's Defense Force.
People's Defence Forces
Hêzên Parastina Gel (HPG)
Leader
FoundationJanuary 2000
Dates of operation2000–present
MotivesCultural and political rights for the Kurdish population in Turkey.[5]
Active regionsTurkey
Iraq
Syria
IdeologyKurdish nationalism
Democratic confederalism
Communalism
Notable attacks2011 Hakkâri attack
StatusAANES–Islamist conflict[6][7]

Ongoing war with Turkey, after ceasefire ended.
SizeOver 40,000 active fighters (2015 Turkish claim)[8]
OpponentsTurkey
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant
Websitehezenparastin.info

References
  1. Can, Eyüp (14 July 2013). "PKK Changes Leadership". (trans. Timur Göksel). Al-Monitor. Archived from the original on 22 February 2014. Retrieved 5 February 2014. Originally published as Karayılan'ı kim niye gönderdi? in Radikal, 11 July 2013.
  2. Tahiri, Hussein. The Structure of Kurdish Society and the Struggle for a Kurdish State. Costa Mesa, California: Mazda Publications 2007. pp 232 ff
  3. Bila, Fikret (7 November 2007). "Kenan Evren: 'Kürtçeye ağır yasak koyduk ama hataydı'" (in Turkish). Milliyet. Retrieved 30 July 2008. Şimdi İmralı'dan PKK'yı yönetiyor. Cezaevinden avukatları kanalıyla.
  4. "Ojalan: Which way now?". BBC News. 21 November 2000. Retrieved 1 September 2007.
  5. Howard, Michael (13 May 2005). "Radical firebrand who led bloody nationalist war". Guardian. London. Retrieved 1 August 2008.
  6. "War against Isis: PKK commander tasked with the defence of Syrian Kurds claims 'we will save Kobani'". The Independent. Retrieved 25 June 2015.
  7. "BREAKING: HPG operation in Sinjar; 20 ISIS dead". Archived from the original on 26 June 2015. Retrieved 25 June 2015.
  8. "The PKK In Numbers". Archived from the original on 2016-07-09. Retrieved 2016-01-05.{}, 28 December 2015
  9. White, Paul (2015). The PKK. London: Zed Books. p. 19-20. ISBN 9781783600373.
  10. "Delegation on its way to meet Turkish prisoners held by PKK -FLASH | …". archive.is. 2013-06-29. Retrieved 2020-10-18.
  11. Hawramy, Fazel. "Commander who defended Mount Shingal's Yezidis killed in Turkish strike: PKK". www.rudaw.net. Retrieved 2020-10-12.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.