Mother stages sit-in outside party office in SE Turkey

By Ali Murat Alhas
ANKARA (AA) - A mother on Tuesday staged a sit-in protest outside the provincial office of a Turkish opposition political party long accused by the government of having links to the PKK terror group.

Fevziye Cetinkaya claimed her 17-year-old son had joined the ranks of the terror group through members of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) in Turkey's southeastern province of Diyarbakir.

She said she approached the police on Monday along with her husband Sahap Cetinkaya and filed a complaint.

Last month, another mother Hacire Akar staged a similar protest near the party's office. Her son returned home a few days later giving hope to a number of mothers who suffer the same circumstances.

In its more than 30-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK -- listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and the EU -- has been responsible for the deaths of some 40,000 people, including women, children and infants.