Ideological and tactical transformation of PKK terrorist organization in the post-2010 period

The authority gap in Syria created by political instability and internal conflicts has been filled by terrorist groups in the last decade, and this has become a threat to the border security of the southern part of Turkey. On one hand, Turkey has implemented cross-border operations against the Democratic Union Party (Partiya Yekitiya Demokrat/PYD), which is a terrorist organization and Syrian affiliate of the militant Kurdistan Worker's Party (Partiya Karkarén Kurdistané/PKK), against which Turkey has been fighting for years. On the other hand, it has been obligated to ensure its border security and to host the displaced people that have been forced to flee and migrate from the region. The PYD has recently come into prominence by taking partial control in northern Syria and getting both ammunition and financial aid from other countries against the DEASH terrorist organization. In this context, the period starting with the civil war in Syria will be addressed as a turning point for the future of the PKK in the present study. Within the frame of the present study, the argument that the PKK has started to hand over its powers and authorities in Syria to the PYD since 2010 and whether the possibility of an increase in separation processes between the PKK's conventional administrative staff and the PYD's administrative staff exists will be discussed. With reference to this argument, the ideological and tactical transformation that the PKK terrorist organization has undergone since the time it was founded will be analyzed and its increased dominance across Syria in line with the international circumstances, and as a result of such dominance, the development process of the PYD will be addressed. In conclusion, it will be attempted to offer a perspective for the future of the relationship between the PKK and the PYD.