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A Kurdish State
At the end of World War I, the Treaty of Sevres proposes the establishment of an autonomous Kurdish state. -
Turkey Overrides Kurdish Statehood
Under the Treaty of Lausanne, Turkey is declared an independent state and plans for an autonomous Kurdish state are abandoned. -
Rebellions Begin
Thousands of Kurds stage their first uprising against the Turkish government -- a move quickly suppressed. The rebellions start with a revolt led by Sheikh Said, who is hanged a few months later. -
Mass Killings During Kurdish Rebellion
Starting in 1936, through 1939, the Turkish government killed 13,806 people in the southeastern town of Tunceli, then known as Dersim. -
The PKK
The Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, is formed. Abdullah Ocalan is selected as the founding leader of the organization. -
Armed Kurdish Rebellion
Kurdish rebels begin an armed struggle against Turkey, resisting Turkification and seeking autonomy in the country’s largely Kurdish southeast. -
PKK Changes Objectives
The PKK drops its declared objective of creating an independent state of Kurdistan in the southeastern provinces of Turkey. -
Kurds Get Elected
Election of first pro-Kurdish political party, the Peace and Democracy Party, or BDP. -
Turkey Launches Offensive
Turkey launches an air and ground offensive against Kurdish militants in Turkey and in northern Iraq after a series of coordinated attacks by the PKK killed 24 soldiers -- the worst loss of life for the Turkish army since 1993. -
Turkey Apologizes
Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan issues the Turkish government’s first official apology for the killings of 13,806 people during a bombing campaign to crush a Kurdish rebellion between 1936 and 1939.