Pro-Government Militias
Village Guards (Turkey)
Basic Group Information
| Name assigned by coder: | no |
| PGM ID Number: | 226 |
| Country: | Turkey |
| Date formed: | March 29, 1985 |
| Accuracy of date formed: | day |
| Details of Formation: | The government under Turgut Özal set up the village guard system to assist the Turkish military forces in the war against the Kurdistan Worker’s Party (PKK). It provided money and arms to peasants and ethnic Kurds to help defend themselves and fight against the pro-independence Kurds (e.g. PKK). |
| Date dissolved: | Unknown |
| Accuracy of date dissolved: | day |
| Details of Termination: | |
| Termination Type(s): | none |
Former and Successor Group Information
| Predecessor group(s): | none |
| Successor group(s): | none |
| Private Military Company? | no |
| Former Group? | no information |
| Former Armed Group? | no information |
| Former Rebel Group? | no information |
| Former Rebel Group UCDP ID: | none |
| PGM Becomes Rebel Group? | no information |
| Successor Rebel Group UCDP ID: | none |
Government Relation, Support, and Training
| Government Relation: | semi-official (type 2) |
| Created by the Government?: | yes | Main Creating Government Institution: | person/minister |
| Government Link(s): | state (institution) |
| If link to party, name of party: | |
| Training and Equipment: | yes |
| Shared Information and Joint Operations: | unclear |
| Shared Personnel: | unclear |
| Type(s) of Material Support: | domestic government |
| State Sponsor(s): | none |
| Other Connection(s): |
Group Characteristics
| Membership: | ethnic; village/rural |
| Primary Membership: | local |
| Alternative Primary Membership: | no information |
| Location: | Black Sea Region, Eastern- and Southeastern Anatolia (Kurd areas) |
| Force Strength: | [39000, 62000] |
| Target(s): | rebels, insurgents, or other armed group |
| Purpose(s): | self-defense and security; intimidation of ethnic/religious groups; fight insurgents |
Ethnic Characteristics
| Ethnic Target(s): | none |
| Quality of Information for Ethnic Targeting: | not applicable |
| Ethnic Membership: | Kurds (Turkey) |
| Quality of Information for Ethnic Membership: | given |
| Ethnic Purpose: | Kurds (Turkey) |
| Quality of Information for Ethnic Purpose: | given |
Other Information
| Other Information: | Village guards ran alongside government-armed Kurdish militia and gangs/death squads all of which target Kurd seperatists/terrorists |
New Variables from Meta-Analysis
Purpose
| Purpose: | The government created the village guards with the purpose of establishing a pro-government militia to help the security forces in the fight against Kurdish insurgents (e.g. PKK). They were used as local informants to help the government gather knowledge on the loyalties of the Kurdish population (Belge 2016). |
| Relative Benefit(s) of PGM Use | knowledge |
Treatment of Civilians
| Treatment of Civilians: | The village guards seem to have treated civilians badly and to have misused their power to get rid of rivals. They are reported to have targeted civilians violently, sexually and sometimes forced them to flee their homes if they refused to become village guards. The government despite some attempts to compensate people who lost their property due to the village guards seems to have tolerated this behaviour on the whole. According to Belge (2016, 296) the presence of more village guards correlated with “more displacement and coercion against civilians.” |
| Type(s) of Violence against Civilians: | kidnapping/abductions; killing; torture; sexual violence |
Reasons for Membership
| PGM Members Coerced? | yes |
| PGM Members Paid? | yes |
| Reasons for Membership: | Reasons for membership were multiple, but the process was predominantly voluntary. Members joined the village guards for material and financial reasons. Joining the village guards was used to signal loyalty to the government, but also as a means to establish control over a certain territory, e.g by tribal leaders (Belge 2016). People also joined the village guards to avoid sanctions, such as resettlement, sexual assault and degradation by the security forces (Wikipedia). |
| PGM Members Killed? | often |
PGM Size
| Size: | According to Wikipedia estimates, the PGM’s size ranges from 50.000 to 90.000. As the government is said to want to phase out the village guard system one might expect its size might have decreased. |
Weapons and Training
| Weapons and Training: | The pgm received weapons from the central government. |
Organisation
| Organisation: | According to Belge (2016) influential individuals in a region such as tribal leaders seem to be village guard heads. The village guards often seem to operate out of direct government control (Wikipedia). |
Reference(s) for Meta-Analysis
Evidence
- Examine the evidence for this coding.