Armed Struggle to Peace Negotiations: Independent Kurdistan to Democratic Autonomy, or The PKK in Context
Abstract This article examines the Partiya Karkeren Kurdistan (Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK) which has become one of the prominent actors in Kurdistan and the Middle East since its inception in the mid 1970s. My basic aim is to explain how the PKK became a significant agent, a maker in the Middle East, contributing to the dissolution of the decades long status quo in Kurdistan. My overall argument is that, while the PKK successfully has changed its 'environment' since its formation, there also have been significant changes in its people, spaces, promises/propositions and instruments.