Number of protesting families reaches 58 in SE Turkey

By Omer Yasin Ergin and Ahmet Kaplan

DIYARBAKIR, Turkey (AA) - Seeking their daughter’s return from the hands of YPG/PKK terror group, another family joined Wednesday an ongoing sit-in protest of families in southeastern Turkey.

The number of protesting families has reached 58 with attendance of Vahide Ciftci, who traveled from Hakkari province to Diyarbakir for her daughter Ozlem Ciftci, kidnapped by the terrorists two years ago when she was 12.

The protest started on Sept. 3 in Diyarbakir province when a mother, Fevziye Cetinkaya, said her underage son had been forcibly recruited by YPG/PKK terrorists with the help of members of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), a party accused by the government of having links to the terrorist group.

Since then, the number of protesting families has been growing, as they demand the return of their children, who, they say, were deceived or kidnapped by PKK terrorists.

"The [terror] organization forcibly kidnapped my daughter," Ciftci said, adding that a group had came to the village and admitted to have had kidnapped her.

Noting that she cannot hear from her child for the last two years, Ciftci said she wants to reunite with her.

"I want my daughter back. I don’t know where she is now. I’m so worried about her," she said.

She stressed that she would not give up protesting without taking her child back, and said, calling on her daughter: "Come back, surrender to the government. I miss you so much."

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

* Writing by Sena Guler from Ankara