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Glite Dictionary
Kurdistan Workers Party

Kurdistan Workers Party

8.3
A Kurdish political group that uses weapons to seek self-rule in Turkey and that some countries call a terrorist group
  • proper noun
  • NSFW
translation icon : Partido de los Trabajadores de Kurdistán
  • Separatists of the Marxist Kurdistan Workers Party launched a guerrilla war against the government in 1984.
  • Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK)

Examples

  • In February, after years of insurgency and armed struggle against the Turkish army, Abdullah Ocalan, the leader of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), was captured in Kenya.

    Academic text (2000)

  • In June, an appeals court ordered the release of Leyla Zana and three other Kurdish parliamentarians who were jailed ten years ago after the Kurdistan Workers' Party was banned.

    Academic text (2004)

  • Indeed, some have suspected that in return for giving the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) sanctuary in Syria for many years, the PKK kept the lid on Syrian Kurdish unrest.

    Academic text (2004)

  • Indeed, some have suspected that in return for giving the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) sanctuary in Syria for many years, the PKK kept the lid on Syrian Kurdish unrest.

    Academic text (2004)

  • The Kurdistan Workers Party has been integral in the Kurdish fight for autonomy within Turkey.

  • The government has accused the Kurdistan Workers Party of carrying out terrorist activities against Turkish forces.

  • Many Kurdish people view the Kurdistan Workers Party as a symbol of their struggle for independence.

Synonyms

Kurdistan Workers' Party
vsKurdistan Workers Party
  • NSFW
8.9

A Kurdish armed and political group that wants its own government in southeastern Turkey

is the same group but notes founding date and a broader Turkey focus
Partiya Karkeran Kurdistan
vsKurdistan Workers Party
9.9

A Kurdish political and armed group also called the PKK that seeks an independent state in eastern Turkey

seeks autonomy or independence broadly rather than only full statehood

Surface Forms

Kurdistan Workers Party main

Morphology

Kurdistan + worker + party

The name is compositionally transparent: a B1 learner who knows 'Kurdistan' (the Kurdish homeland), 'workers', and 'party' can infer this refers to a political organization of Kurdish workers. Specific facts about militancy or terrorist designation are extra encyclopedic information, but the basic referential meaning is directly derivable from the constituents.

Etymology

Kurdistan Workers Party says who the group was for and what it wanted: Kurdistan means the 'land of the Kurds', Workers shows it began as a movement for 'working people', and Party means a 'political group'. So, the name points to a Kurdish political movement that later became an armed organization involved in conflict.