De-listing of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) - Petition to the Australian Government

1. Ever since the formation of the republic in 1923, Turkey’s large Kurdish population has endured heavy national oppression. Even today, they are denied public education in their mother tongue. The Kurdish people reject the second-class citizenship.

2. Established to work for Kurdish cultural and national rights, the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) enjoys the support of millions of Kurdish people across Kurdistan, including in Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Syria as well as among the large Kurdish diaspora.

3. The PKK has implemented at least four unilateral ceasefires, the first in 1993 and the latest in March 2013 when it began withdrawing its armed units to camps in northern Iraq. In a significant concession, it has dropped its call for an independent Kurdish state and instead calls for autonomy within a democratised Turkey.

4. The PKK seeks to enter into direct negotiations with the Turkish government. Its acknowledged leader, Abdullah Öcalan, jailed in Turkey since 1999, will play a key role in any such negotiations and the PKK wants his harsh conditions of imprisonment significantly eased to facilitate this.

5. The PKK was instrumental in the military defeat of the inhuman ISIS ‘caliphate’ in both Iraq and Syria and came to the rescue of the Yazidis when they were subjected to a genocidal attack by ISIS in Sinjar.

6. Despite this proven anti-terrorist role, the US, European Union and Australian governments continue to proscribe the PKK as a terrorist organisation.

7. Listing an organisation means that it is illegal for Australian citizens to belong to it, raise funds for it or in any way to actively support it. The PKK was first placed on the Australian list of terrorist organisations at the end of 2005 and has remained there ever since. The latest re-listing of PKK was in August 2021.

8. The government’s stated case for this listing is extremely weak. It says absolutely nothing about the severe discrimination faced by the Kurdish population of Turkey or Turkish attacks, including the use of chemical weapons, on the Kurdish population in northern Iraq and north and east Syria.

We, therefore, argue that:

• Good-faith negotiations between the Turkish government and the PKK are the only realistic way to resolve this long-running conflict. Australia and the West should use all their influence to push for genuine constructive talks.

• The PKK’s inclusion on Western terrorist lists is an obstacle to fruitful negotiations. The PKK should be de-listed. In particular, we call on the Australian government to remove the PKK from its list of terrorist organisations.

Please sign and share this petition to urge the Australian government to remove the Kurdistan Workers' Party from the list of terrorist organisations.