 In the whole Turkey, this period was characterized by violent clashes which culminated in the 1980 military coup.During this time, the organization said that its violent actions against the government forces were used by "the need to defend Kurds in the context of what it calls as the massive cultural suppression of Kurdish identity (including the 1983 Turkish Language Act Ban) and cultural rights carried out by other governments of the region".Turkey also used violent and oppressive methods against its Kurdish citizens to stop them supporting the PKK.