UPDATE - 2 more families join anti-PKK protest in Turkey

UPDATES WITH ANOTHER FAMILY JOINING PROTEST; CHANGES HEADLINE, LEDE

By Aziz Aslan and Osman Bilgin

DIYARBAKIR, Turkey (AA) - Two more families have joined the ongoing sit-in protest against the YPG/PKK terror group in southeastern Turkey on Monday, as parents have been calling for the return of their children for over 500 days.

The protest outside the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) office -- which the government accuses of having links to the YPG/PKK -- began on Sept. 3, 2019, when three mothers said YPG/PKK terrorists had forcibly recruited their children. It has been growing since.

Pinar Bicer, a mother from the eastern Van province, joined the sit-in to reunite with her daughter, Gulcan.

She said her daughter was 18-year-old when she was kidnapped in the southern Adana province six years ago.

The mother said she watched the families' protest on television and decided to join them.

"I want my daughter from the HDP. I will not leave here until I get her back," she vowed.

Gulcan's father Necmettin Bicer also told reporters that six years ago, they did not see their daughter in her room when they woke up early in the morning, and the parents have never heard of their daughter since then.

The father called on his daughter to surrender to Turkish security forces.

"Our government's security forces will warmly welcome you. I want my daughter from the HDP. The HDP has to bring our children just as the way they took them away."

Kadriye Yuksel, a mother from the eastern Batman province, also joined the protest to call for the return of her son, Ferit.

Yuksel said her son was 18-year-old when he was kidnapped six years ago. She has not heard from her son since then.

"My son, if you are alive and hear me, let us know. Let us hear your voice. We are all done in," she said, hoping to meet her son as soon as possible.

In its more than 30-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 40,000 people including women, children and infants. The YPG is the PKK's Syrian offshoot.

*Writing by Merve Aydogan and Gozde Bayar in Ankara