Turkey: Families unite to protest PKK terrorism

By Bestami Bodruk

DIYARBAKIR, Turkey (AA) - Families staging a sit-in protest in southeastern Turkey against the PKK terror group, which is accused of abducting and forcibly recruiting children, voiced support for another group suffering from the same pain in another province.

The protest outside the offices of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), which the government accuses of having links to the PKK, began on Sept. 3, 2019 when three mothers said PKK terrorists forcibly recruited their children and has been growing in Diyarbakir province since then.

On the 596th day of the protest, families in Diyarbakir held a video call with others staging sit-in outside HDP offices in eastern Mus province.

They agreed on continuing the protest until they all reunite with their children.

Aysegul Bicer, one of the protesting mothers in Diyarbakir, said that families of abducted children in eastern and southeastern provinces do not bow down to the PKK terror group.

Bicer said they are not able to visit grieving families in Mus due to the coronavirus pandemic, and added: "We have decided to finish off the PKK and HDP together in (the Turkish provinces of) Mus, Van, Hakkari, Sirnak, Diyarbakir and even in Germany."

She said the number of families protesting in Mus will increase day by day like in other provinces.

So far, at least 24 families have been reunited with their children, who fled the terror group and surrendered to Turkish security forces.

Offenders who are linked to terrorist groups and surrender are eligible for possible sentence reductions under a repentance law in Turkey.

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

*Contributions and writing by Sena Guler