People's Defence Forces

People's Defence Forces Hêzên Parastina Gel (HPG)
Leader(s)	Abdullah Öcalan[1] Murat Karayilan [2][3][4]
Foundation	1984[5]
Dates of operation	1984–present
Motives	Cultural and political rights for the Kurdish population in Turkey.[6]
Active region(s)	Turkey, Iraq, Syria, Western Europe
Ideology	Kurdish nationalism Democratic confederalism Communalism[7]
Notable attacks	1984 PKK attacks May 24, 1993 PKK ambush 2011 Hakkâri attack
Status	Fights against ISIS.[8][9] Ongoing war with Turkey, after ceasefire ended.
Size	over 40,000 active fighters (2015 Turkish claim)[10]
Website	www.hezenparastine.com/eng/

People's Defence Forces (Kurdish: Hêzên Parastina Gel(HPG); is the military wing of the PKK.

References

1. Can, Eyüp (14 July 2013). "PKK Changes Leadership". (trans. Timur Göksel). Al-Monitor. Retrieved 5 February 2014. Originally published as Karayılan'ı kim niye gönderdi? in Radikal, 11 July 2013.
2. Tahiri, Hussein. The Structure of Kurdish Society and the Struggle for a Kurdish State. Costa Mesa, California: Mazda Publications 2007. pp 232 ff
3. Bila, Fikret (7 November 2007). "Kenan Evren: 'Kürtçeye ağır yasak koyduk ama hataydı'" (in Turkish). Milliyet. Retrieved 30 July 2008. Şimdi İmralı'dan PKK'yı yönetiyor. Cezaevinden avukatları kanalıyla.
4. "Ojalan: Which way now?". BBC News. 21 November 2000. Retrieved 1 September 2007.
5. "Terrorist Organization Profiles – START – National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism". Start.umd.edu. Retrieved 2014-08-14.
6. Howard, Michael (13 May 2005). "Radical firebrand who led bloody nationalist war". Guardian. London. Retrieved 1 August 2008.
8. "War against Isis: PKK commander tasked with the defence of Syrian Kurds claims 'we will save Kobani'". The Independent. Retrieved 25 June 2015.
9. "BREAKING: HPG operation in Sinjar; 20 ISIS dead". Retrieved 25 June 2015.
10. Sabah {{ |url=http://www.sabah.com.tr/galeri/turkiye/iste-pkkli-hainlerin-il-il-dagilimi/85 |title=The PKK In Numbers}}{}, 28 December 2015