‘Too much to bear’: Mother pushed over edge of reality after terrorists rip family apart

By Ali Murat Alhas

DIYARBAKIR, Turkey (AA) – Necmettin Bicer yearns for the good old days when his family would gather at the dinner table, cracking jokes as they shared one of his wife’s delicious meals.

He wants nothing more than to hear the laughter of his wife and daughter echo through their home.

Simple as his wish may be, it is inconceivable for Necmettin today – all because of a terror group that has waged a decades-long war against Turkey, using the country’s youth as fodder in a relentless campaign of violence, death, and destruction.

Designated as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the US, and the EU, the PKK has been responsible for the deaths of at least 40,000 people, including women, children, and infants, in its more than 35-year terror campaign against Turkey.

For the thousands of lives the terror group has snuffed out, it has destroyed even more by ripping away children from parents and siblings from siblings.

The Bicer family is among those who have felt this pain and been broken by it.

Originally from Van, the family was happily settled in Adana when Necmettin’s daughter Gulcan, just 18 at the time, was abducted by the PKK in 2015 – a shock that pushed her mother Pinar into an abyss of sorrow that gradually devoured her senses and her life.

Driven to despair, Pinar slowly lost her grip on reality and was eventually institutionalized for 10 months, where she was diagnosed with schizophrenia.

“My wife fell ill soon after my daughter was abducted and sent to the PKK terror group by the HDP [Peoples' Democratic Party],” Necmettin told Anadolu Agency at the sit-in protest in Turkey’s southeastern Diyarbakir province.

Necmettin, Pinar, and their son Diyar are now among the around 30 distraught parents and family members camped outside the HDP’s Diyarbakir office.

Since September 2019, some 234 families have participated in the protest against the terror group and the political party, who they, as well as the Turkish government, accuse of having direct links.

“My wife would call out Gulcan’s name, even during her sleep. When awake, all she could do was cry. My daughter’s abduction was simply too much for her to bear,” said Necmettin, exhaustion and anguish etched on his weathered face.

“Pinar keeps asking me about our daughter. I have tried to explain hundreds of times, but whatever my response may be, she just trails out of the conversation and repeats the question. It is excruciating to see her like this.”

For Necmettin, the Diyarbakir protest is the last hope to get back his daughter.

“We don’t even know if Gulcan is alive, or whether she is in Turkey or was taken to northern Iraq or Syria,” he said.

“This protest gives us a ray of hope and keeps us going. It is what gives me the courage to look my wife in the eye and tell her that there is still hope for our Gulcan.”

Gulcan’s brother Diyar, now 20, has fond memories of his sister and refuses to give up on the prospect of her return.

“My sister was always with me. She used to tell me stories at night. She was more like a mother to me. I want nothing more than to see her again,” he said, trying hard to mask emotions clearly too powerful to hide.

“We don’t know if she is alive or not. We have not had contact with her for years. We are not ready to give up hope yet, but we are also prepared for the worst.”

Gulcan’s disappearance forced the Bicer family to move back to Van from Adana, as the memories of joyful days only served to worsen Pinar’s condition.

“The move was really hard for me. I am a shy person and cannot make friends easily, so I was all alone. It affected my life significantly, but we had to do it for my mother. Staying there was not an option for her,” Diyar narrated.

“Despite everything we have been through, all of us will be only too happy to move on and will embrace Gulcan with open arms if she comes back. We all deserve a better life than this. I just hope and pray that my sister is alive and well, and she finds her way back to us.”