The PKK's August 1984 attacks on Turkish security forces in Eruh and Şemdinli marked the start of the Kurdish–Turkish armed insurgency that would kill tens of thousands.
Key Facts
- Date of initial attacks
- 15 August 1984
- PKK attack commander
- Mahsum Korkmaz ("Agit")
- Killed in initial attacks
- 3 (1 gendarme at Eruh, 2 police at Şemdinli)
- Deaths 1984–1991
- ~2,500 people
- Deaths by September 2008 (Turkish state estimate)
- 44,000 people
- PKK insurgency preparation started
- August 1982 (Second Party Congress, Daraa, Syria)
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
Following its Second Party Congress in Daraa, Syria in August 1982, the PKK resolved to launch an armed insurgency inside Turkey. Over the next two years, the organization established training camps in Syria and Lebanon's Beqaa Valley and dispatched propaganda teams into predominantly Kurdish southeastern Turkey to mobilize local populations.
On 15 August 1984, PKK forces led by Mahsum Korkmaz simultaneously attacked gendarmerie positions in Eruh, Siirt and Şemdinli, Hakkâri, killing three security personnel and wounding several others. Follow-up raids days later struck a police station in Siirt, killed three of President Evren's guards in Yüksekova, and ambushed eight Turkish soldiers in Çukurca.
Turkish authorities initially underestimated the attacks, but insurgent violence escalated sharply across Kurdish southeastern Turkey. Approximately 2,500 people died in the conflict between 1984 and 1991; the toll rose steeply to 17,500 between 1991 and 1992, and the Turkish state estimated total deaths at 44,000 by September 2008.
Belligerents & Mobilization Analysis
Side A
1 belligerent
General Kenan Evren (President).
Side B
1 belligerent
Mahsum Korkmaz ("Agit").