Criticism of the State in the Discourse of the PKK Terrorist Organization from The Archaic Period to the Modern Age
Criticism of the State in the Discourse of the PKK Terrorist Organization from The Archaic Period to the Modern Age

Summary/Abstract: Modern terrorist organisations are dynamic structures that reproduce similar organisational frameworks, operational methods and strategic practices by learning from one another. However, the most fundamental factor distinguishing these organisations from one another is the ideological sources of motivation that sustain them and the decisive influence these sources exert on organisational behaviour. Ideology emerges not only as a means of providing a basis of legitimacy but also as a foundational element that shapes the organisation’s objectives, strategic priorities and repertoire of actions. In this context, the ideological sphere often draws on utopian and normative elements to instil a sense of meaning, belonging and purpose in the organisation’s members. This study aims to analyse how the concept of the ‘state’—which occupies a central position within the ideological framework of the PKK terrorist organisation, one of Turkey’s most significant security challenges—is defined and reproduced. Accordingly, the study examines how the state is constructed within the organisational discourse through which conceptual oppositions, how it is positioned as an “other”, and how it is linked to a vision of an alternative political order. Within the scope of the research, primary sources such as statements by the organisation’s leadership, PKK/KCK congress texts and organisational publications were analysed; the data obtained were evaluated using the conceptual tools of Critical Discourse Analysis. The study reveals that the PKK re-constructs the concept of the state not merely as a structure to be opposed, but also as a tool to legitimise its own ideological project; it demonstrates that this discursive construction plays a decisive role in the formation of organisational identity, the production of collective belonging, and the recruitment of militants.

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