Is the West too soft on Turkey's PKK?

Turkey is warning the West about what it calls threats by the Kurdistan Workers' Party.


There have been a series of attacks across Turkey over the past few months which have largely been carried out by either the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) or fighters linked to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

The PKK was originally formed to fight for an independent Kurdish state and has been at war with the Turkish government for decades.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan noted that while most Western nations consider the PKK a terrorist organisation, they do not go after the group in the same manner they go after ISIL or al-Qaeda.

The Kurds' quest for a homeland

Kurdish aspirations for statehood are being boosted by recent territorial gains during fighting in Iraq and Syria.


Kurdish aspirations for statehood are being boosted by recent territorial gains.

Kurds are the most effective group standing up to ISIL.

Kurdish fighters are again trying to fend off an attack by ISIL fighters on the border town of Kobane.

And they recently captured Tal Abyad, a strategic border town which ISIL used to bring foreign fighters and supplies to areas they control inside Syria.

The Kurds' fight is driven by their dream of a homeland of their own. They are scattered across the region and the world. Their quest for their own nation is boosted by the continuing wars in Iraq and Syria.