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PKK established
The PKK, established by Abdullah Ocalan in 1978, has waged an insurgency since 1984 against Turkish authorities for greater cultural and political rights, primarily with the objective of establishing an independent Kurdish state. The ongoing conflict has resulted in nearly forty thousand deaths -
PKK designated a foreign terrorist organization
Heightened terrorist activity by Kurdish separatists is also a growing concern for the United States and its allies which designated the PKK a foreign terrorist organization in 1997 -
PKK announces abandoning the cease fire
PKK announced in early summer that the group was abandoning the ceasefire and restarting its armed campaign against Turkey. In June, several thousand PKK members crossed into Turkish territories, according to Ankara. -
Battle for Kobani
A battle for Kobani resulted in more than 1,600 deaths -
Cease fire collapses
In July 2015, a two-year cease-fire between Turkey’s government and the PKK collapsed following a suicide bombing by suspected self-proclaimed Islamic State militants that killed nearly thirty Kurds near the Syrian border. -
U.S.-Turkey relations falter
U.S.-Turkey relations have faltered since Erdogan renewed calls for the extradition of Fethullah Gülen a Turkish political and religious leader in self-imposed exile in the United States whom Erdogan believes to be an organizer of the July 2016 coup. -
Turkish troops and FSA launch assault on Afrin
Turkish troops and the FSA launched an assault on the city of Afrin in January 2018, eventually capturing the city in March 2018. -
President withdraws troops from Syria
President Donald J. Trump announced in December 2018 that the United States would begin withdrawing troops from Syria. -
President Trump threatened to sanction Turkey
In January 2019, Trump threatened to sanction Turkey, should the Turkish military attack U.S.-backed Kurdish forces in Syria, and U.S. National Security Advisor John Bolton indicated that the United States would continue to seek reassurances from Erdogan that the Syrian Kurds would not be attacked. -
PKK affiliates attack Turkish army base
In January 2019, the Turkish government claimed that separatist Kurdish militants tied to the PKK conducted an attack on a Turkish army base in northern Iraq that resulted in damage to military equipment and no casualties.
