This month, Turkish warplanes repeatedly bombed suspected PKK camps in the mountains of northern Iraq.
Both the United States and its NATO ally, Turkey, officially label the PKK a terrorist organization.
Yet many observers believe the Tokat attack was staged by PKK hardliners bent on sabotaging peace.
Turkey also is worried about Syrian support for the Kurdish PKK and its own Alevis minority.
Sources close to the PKK admit that the military campaign has left it weakened.
Turkey, the United States and the European Union have labeled the PKK a terrorist organization.
CNN: Mourners in Turkey protest killings of Kurdish activists
Yet Turkey has enough trouble coping with the PKK, let alone getting embroiled in regime change.
ECONOMIST: Tests mount up for Turkey��s newly assertive foreign policy
But the PKK rejected suggestions that the killings were part of an internal feud.
On Friday, the PKK rejected suggestions that the killings were part of an internal feud.
There is speculation he will call for a ceasefire between his PKK fighters and the Turkish state.
The Turkish government has declared the PKK a terror organization, as has its ally the United States.
In recent days, the Turkish military bombed suspected PKK camps in the Qandil Mountains of northern Iraq.
CNN: Mourners in Turkey protest killings of Kurdish activists
The PKK leader is serving a life sentence in a prison on the Turkish island of Imrali.
Turkish intelligence sources claim that the Cukurca attack was ordered by Fehman Hussein, a Syrian PKK commander.
But that premise could turn out to be false if a Turkish peace deal with the PKK holds.
"I don't think the PKK will lay down its arms, " said Shamal Bishir, the PJAK's foreign affairs chief.
Interestingly, despite PKK claims of Kurdish solidarity, the organization has little, if any, support in northern Iraq either.
Mr Erdogan has since piled the blame on the PKK and on the largest Kurdish party, the BDP.
Scenting an opportunity, Abdullah Ocalan, the imprisoned PKK leader, has appealed to more of his men to return.
ECONOMIST: A trickle back of PKK terrorists may herald a lasting peace
There is speculation that Mr Ocalan will call for a ceasefire between his PKK fighters and the Turkish state.
This strengthened the PKK in the region, causing concern for the Turkish government.
Mr Erdogan has also said his government will continue anti-PKK operations until the Kurdish militants lay down their arms.
This has prompted speculation that Turkey could be thinking of reviving an amnesty for PKK fighters untainted by violence.
The EU remains firmly opposed to Turkish military operations in northern Iraq, where thousands of PKK militants are based.
Some think the PKK could even be forced back to the negotiating table.
In recent days the Turkish military has launched from Diyarbakir a number of air raids on these PKK bases.
In 1998, under intensive Turkish pressure, Syria expelled Ocalan and shut down the PKK camps he had established there.
Even if he does, the PKK will keep raising the bar because it wants to be a party to the solution.
"The Turkish state has to deal with the PKK in a political way by persuading it to disarm, " he told CNN.
CNN: Kurds' ambitions add explosive element to Syria equation
In exchange, the Iraqi Kurds are squeezing the PKK. An Iraqi Kurdish satellite-television channel, Kurd Stat, even carries Turkish-language news broadcasts.
ECONOMIST: A trickle back of PKK terrorists may herald a lasting peace
应用推荐