"The Kurds, who number some 28 million people in the Middle East, have no country they can call their own. Long ignored by the West, Kurds are now highly visible actors on the world's political stage. More than half live in Turkey, where the Kurdish struggle has gained new strength and attention since the U.S. overthrow of Saddam Hussein in neighboring Iraq. Essential to understanding modern-day Kurds-and their continuing demands for an independent state-is understanding the PKK, the Kurdistan Workers' Party. A guerilla force that was founded in 1978 by a small group of ex-Turkish university students, the PKK radicalized the Kurdish national movement in Turkey, becoming a tightly organized, well-armed fighting force of some 15,000, with a 50,000-member civilian militia in Turkey and tens of thousands of active backers in Europe. Under the leadership of Abdullah Ocalan, the war the PKK waged in Turkey through 1999 left nearly 40,000 people dead and drew in the neighboring states of Iran, Iraq, and Syria, all of whom sought to use the PKK for their own purposes. Since 2004, emboldened by the Iraqi Kurds, who now have established an autonomous Kurdish state in the northernmost reaches of Iraq, the PKK has again turned to violence to meet its objectives." Publisher's description

Originally published: 2007. Includes maps of: Turkey.

Acronyms -- Introduction -- Prologue -- PART I. OCALAN, KURDS AND THE PKK'S START: The origins of the PKK, 1949-1976 -- Abdullah Ocalan, Leader, 1975-1980 -- The flight to survive, 1980-1982 -- On the road to war, 1982-1984 -- PART II. THE PKK CONSOLIDATES POWER: Loyalty and violence, 1985-1990 -- The struggle to succeed, 1985-1990 -- The deluge, 1988-1991 -- PART III: PKK MILITANTS FIGHT FOR CONTROL -- War in the streets, 1991-1992 -- Fueling the war, 1992-1993 -- Mixing war and politics, 1991-1993 -- Change in fortunes, 1993-1997 -- PART IV. OCALAN'S CAPTURE AND AFTER -- The Decline, 1995-1998 -- Searching for a New Way, 1995-1998 -- Ocalan, Caught by Surprise, 1998-1999 -- The PKK saves itself, 1999-2007 -- Conclusion -- Timeline