Kongra-Gel

(KGK)

   Following the capture of Abdullah (Apo) Ocalan, the leader of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) on 16 February 1999, the PKK changed its name first to the Kurdistan Freedom and Democracy Congress (KADEK) and then to the Kurdistan Peoples Congress (Kongra-Gel) in an attempt to become a legal Kurdish party and escape the terrorist designation applied to it by the United States and others. Subsequently, the organization has returned to its original name, PKK. However, while the designation

   KADEK has been abandoned, the name Kongra-Gel remains. Under the leadership of Zubeyir Aydar it has acted as a peaceful political wing of the PKK in Europe. Others have described it as a pan-Kurdish political congress with close ties to the PKK. The United States, however, considers it to be a mere adjunct or even simply another name for the PKK and therefore a terrorist organization. Kongra-Gel's headquarters are listed as being located at Rue Jean Stas 41 in Brussels, the same location also shared by KON-KURD and the Kurdistan National Congress.