A PKK press release urged Turkeys Kurds to start a massive civil disobedience movement to force the Turkish government to grant Kurds greater cultural rights. The PKK statement urged democratic resistance. The PKK has called for civil disobedience in the past, so the language isnt new. However, there have been a number of reports about new internal struggles in the PKK leadership. Several former PKK guerrillas have openly favored democratic means of pursuing Kurd political goals. Time will tell if this is an indication that another fracture has developed in the PKK.

January 26 , 2001; Abdullah (Apo) Ocalan issued a statement from his jail cell, warning the Turk government that the PKK would "renew" its guerrilla war if Turkey continued to launch "offensives." Turkish analysts said that Ocalan is disturbed by Turkey's efforts to organize Iraqi Kurds to fight the some 8000 PKK guerrillas believed to be in northern Iraq. A Turkish spokesman now said the official death toll from the Kurd war is 36,500.