ABSTRACT
For nearly half a century terrorism has been a primary security concern for Turkey. Throughout this period, Turkey fought against various terrorist organisations with different motives and gained vast military and tactical experience. Turkey, which has indulged in a military battle against the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) for over 40 years has recently changed its strategy to go beyond military policies and include social, economic, and cultural elements. The increasing use of technology-assisted equipment by the Turkish Armed Forces at border crossings and the security operations targeting drug cultivation in rural areas aimed to eliminate the financial resources of the PKK terrorist organisation. Particularly, the Turkish military used unmanned aerial vehicles to detect rural land pieces where cannabis is cultivated and remove them. This chapter explores the historical development of the PKK terrorist organisation, its organisational structure, and financing resources to continue its activities and the policies employed by Turkey to counter PKK's terrorist financing.
