The People's Defence Forces (, HPG) was the military wing of the group

Kurdistan Workers' Party The Kurdistan Workers' Party, or the PKK, isDespite the PKK's 12th Congress announcing plans for total organisational dissolution, the PKK has not yet been dissolved de facto or de jure. a Kurds, Kurdish militant political organization and armed ...

(PKK). During the 7th Congress of the PKK in January 2000, the HPG replaced the former military wing of the PKK, the People's Liberation Army of Kurdistan (''Artêşa Rizgariya Gelê Kurdistan'', ARGK). The replacement was intended to demonstrate the search for a peaceful solution of the Kurdish-Turkish conflict, after the capture of

Abdullah Öcalan Abdullah Öcalan ( ; ; born 4 April 1948 or 1949), also known as Apo (short for Abdullah in Turkish; Kurdish for "uncle"), is a founding member of the militant Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). Öcalan was based in Syria from 1979 to 1998. He ...

in 1999. The HPG played an active role in the peace negotiations between the Turkish Government and the PKK in 2013, as it hosted a delegation consisting of several politicians from the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) and members of the Turkish Human Rights Association (IHD) and agreed to release soldiers of the Turkish army as well as a Turkish politician, who they held captive. In 2014, the HPG was involved in the fight against the

Islamic State The Islamic State (IS), also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and Daesh, is a transnational Salafi jihadism, Salafi jihadist organization and unrecognized quasi-state. IS ...

(ISIS) in Sinjar. As far as can be judged from the publications, one of the basic HPG factions is called "Karela Forces" or "Al-Karila Forces" () meaning "

guerrilla Guerrilla warfare is a form of unconventional warfare in which small groups of irregular military, such as rebels, Partisan (military), partisans, paramilitary personnel or armed civilians, which may include Children in the military, recruite ...

" and this name is mainly mentioned in Arabic texts regarding HPG actions. In Arabic texts, and later among its members and supporters, Karila or Gerîla has become an alternative name for People's Defence Forces in general. On 12 May 2025, the Kurdistan Workers' Party announced it would disband as part of a peace initiative with Turkey.

History

In 1984, the PKK declared they chose the ''method of "people's revolution"'' developed by

Mao Zedong Mao Zedong pronounced ; traditionally Romanization of Chinese, romanised as Mao Tse-tung. (26December 18939September 1976) was a Chinese politician, revolutionary, and political theorist who founded the People's Republic of China (PRC) in ...

, and then started to apply guerrilla warfare methods in

Kurdistan Kurdistan (, ; ), or Greater Kurdistan, is a roughly defined geo- cultural region in West Asia wherein the Kurds form a prominent majority population and the Kurdish culture, languages, and national identity have historically been based. G ...

. During this period, the organization declared ''a "long-term people's war"'' and established an organization called the Kurdistan Liberation Forces (Kurdish: ''Hêzên Rizgarîya Kurdistanê'', HRK), describing as ''"Armed Propaganda''". On August 15, 1984, the ''"July 14 Armed Propaganda Unit"'' under the command of Mahsum Korkmaz carried out the first armed attacks of the organization in Eruh and Şemdinli. At the 3rd congress of the PKK held in

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

on October 25, 1986, the HRK, which was based on propaganda, was abolished and a new militia called the "Kurdistan People's Liberation Army" was established, which was based on powerful armed attacks. This structure carried out attacks between 1991 and 1993.Bal, İhsan ve Özkan, Emre
''PKK (Partiya Karkeren Kürdistan-Kürdistan İşçi Partisi) Terör Örgütü Kronolojisi (1976 – 2006)''
, Uluslararası Stratejik Araştırmalar Kurumu.

References

{{Authority control Apoist organizations in Turkey Anti-ISIL factions in Iraq Anti-ISIL factions in Turkey Kurdistan Workers' Party Military wings of socialist parties Organisations designated as terrorist by the United Kingdom Organizations based in Asia designated as terrorist Rebel groups in Turkey