First and foremost is the Democratic Party of Kurdistan (DPK), founded by Mustafa Barzani and involved in a guerrilla warfare since the late 1960s. Today it is headed by his son, Massud. Next, there is the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), headed by Jalal Talabani. In terms of military forces, field presence, alliances, etc., these organizations are easily more powerful than the PKK.

The Algiers Agreement (1975) between Saddam Husayn and the Shah of Iran, which primarily concerned the sharing of the waters of the Shatt al-Arab, virtually put an end to the military assistance of imperial Iran, and the United States, to Barzani. This aid, copious since early 1974, had enabled Mustafa Barzani's fighters to liberate much of their land in Iraq. The cut-off of aid from Iran forced them to quit their "safe havens" and caused a rift within the Kurdish movement, which led to the creation of the PUK.

In the beginning, the PKK was half-heartedly allied with the DPK. A split occurred at the time of the first "village guards" massacre committed in Turkish "Kurdistan." But in Spring 1987, an agreement was reached (heavy weapons shipments, etc.) between the Iranian Government and Jalal Talabani's PUK. A year later, a rapprochement (once again, purely of convenience) was announced between the PKK and the PUK. A Kurdish Islamic Fundamentalist movement then appeared, first in Iraq, where the Islamic revolutionary press of Tehran spread the news about the activities of an "Islamic Movement of Iraqi Kurdistan" (IMIK), formerly called "Hizballah of Kurdistan." The same Islamic Fundamentalist newspapers reported the (sporadic) activities of an "Islamic Party of Kurdistan" and of the Kurdish "Guardians of the Faith."