ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the political developments connected to the Kurds in Turkey from the 1960s onwards. It discusses the emergence of the Kurdish movement during the late 1960s and early 1970s before focusing on the growth of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) as the dominant force in Kurdish resistance. Then the emergence and development of the pro-Kurdish democratic movement since 1990 is discussed, detailing the specific political demands it has been raising and the challenges it has been facing in its attempts to represent the Kurds through the political institutions in Turkey. An account of the evolution of the ongoing armed conflict and the major transformations it has experienced since the late 1990s are also discussed.
