SUMMARY
PKK made use of one-sided violence as a means of warfare in the violent struggle for an independent Kurdish state that was instigated by the group in 1984. PKK is first included as a one-sided actor in UCDP data in 1989, but it is reported to have targeted civilians earlier.
The majority of one-sided attacks have produced only a few casualties. Shootings and bombings in the context of PKK-road blocks and raids on villages were common. PKK also repeatedly attacked educational institutions and commercial infrastructure.
In August 1993 PKK reinstated its 1987 "Decree on Village Raids," which called for "mass destruction" of villages which do not support "the national liberation struggle” i.e. those with government-armed village guard forces. In 1994, the group openly acknowledged that ”all economic, political, military, social and cultural organizations, institutions, formations and those who serve in them have become targets.” It also promised to "liquidate" or "eliminate" political parties, "imperialist" cultural and educational institutions, legislative and representative bodies, and "all local collaborators and agents working for the Republic of Turkey in Kurdistan." PKK motivated its attacks on teachers by claiming that educational institutions imposed Turkish culture on the students. According to analysts PKK targeted commercial infrastructure in order to deter investment in the region.
However, in December 1994 the tenor of PKK statements began to change. PKK announced several times its intention to comply with international law that provides for protection for civilians in times of conflict. It stated that civil servants such as teachers would not be targets. It also promised that PKK members violating international humanitarian law would be punished. The subsequent years saw a significant decrease in casualties from one-sided attacks committed by PKK.
The majority of the one-sided attacks were committed in south-eastern Turkey, but PKK was also active in major cities such as Istanbul and outside the Turkish territory, notably in northern Iraq.
PKK first became active as a one-sided actor in UCDP data in 1989, when the one-sided violence resulted in at least 25 civilian deaths. The threshold was reached on 27 May that year as a result of the killing of civilians in the town of Nizip in southern Turkey.
