Turkey: Status of the Turkey and North Kurdistan Liberation Organization (TKKKO) (March 2001-April 2005)

Information on the status of the Turkey and North Kurdistan Liberation Organization (TKKKO) was scarce among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate. An uncorroborated source claimed that the TKKKO had links with several Marxist-Leninist parties in Turkey (Medias News n.d.).

According to the Report of Fact-Finding Mission to Turkey, which was prepared by the United Kingdom's Immigration and Nationality Directorate, the German Federal Office for the Recognition of Foreign Refugees published a report in February 2001 that "lists political parties which have been proscribed in Turkey" (17-32 Mar. 2001). This list includes the Turkey and North Kurdistan Liberation Organization (TKKKO) (UK 17-23 Mar. 2001).

In 11 April 2005 correspondence with the Research Directorate, a post-doctoral fellow at McGill University offered the following information on the organization: The TKKKO is or was "a pretty marginal group." The fellow cited one of his Kurdish contacts, whom he did not identify, as saying that the TKKKO does indeed stand for the Turkey and North Kurdistan Liberation Organization (TKKKO) and is a pro-PKK group. The contact further indicated that the party's beginnings can be traced to the Revolutionary Youth (Dev Genc) and Revolutionary People's Liberation Party-Front (DHKP/C). The contact also believed that the party was founded in 1977 under the name Kurtulus and, by 1980 or 1981, created a branch called TKKKO. The fellow's contact claimed to have met only one member of the TKKKO, who happened to be an ethnic Laz. While not certain, the contact believed that the organization's Secretary General was named Mahir Sayin.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim for refugee protection. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

References

Medias News. n.d. "Mouvements terroristes ou extrémistes : Turquie." [Accessed 8 Apr. 2005]

Post-doctoral fellow of political science, McGill University, Montreal. 11 April 2005. Correspondence.

United Kingdom. 1-23 March 2001. Immigration and Nationality Directorate. Report of Fact-Finding Mission to Turkey. [Accessed 22 Apr. 2005]

Additional Sources Consulted

An adjunct professor of political science at New School University in New York, NY, an assistant professor of political science at San Francisco State University, an instructor in political science at Irvine Valley College in Irvine, CA, and a member of the American Kurdish Information Network (AKIN) in Washington, DC, all specializing in Kurdish politics in Turkey, did not respond to requests for information within time constraints.

Internet Sites, including: Al-Bawaba, Amnesty International (AI), BBC, Communist Party of Turkey, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2004, European Country of Origin Information Network (ECOI), Federation of American Scientists, Freedom House, Human Rights Association of Turkey, Human Rights Federation of Turkey, Human Rights Watch (HRW), Kurdish Human Rights Project, Kurdish Media, Kurdistan Observer, Leftist Parties of the World, MAZLUMDER (Organization for Human Rights and Solidarity for Opressed People), Patterns of Global Terrorism 2003, Terrorism: Near Eastern Groups and State Sponsors 2002, Turkish Daily News, Turkey Update, United States Department of State, World Immigration, World News Connection (WNC).

Publications: Extremist Groups 2002, Political Handbook of the World 2000-2002, Political Parties of the World 2005.