Kurdish War Article Index : Current 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
Geography
 Latest
 News 		  Most
 Read 		  Most
 Commented		  Hot
 Topics

August 27, 2004

The fifteen years of war with the Kurdish rebels in Turkey, in addition to leaving some 37,000 people dead, led to the formation of a village guard force that still has 60,000 part time security guards on duty. Paid about $200 a month, the guards provide muscle for villages that have decided not to support the Kurdish separatist groups (particularly the PKK, which now calls itself  Kongra Gel.) But these armed men, scattered in small groups through hundreds of villages in eastern Turkey, are becoming another Kurdish political force.