1 more family joins anti-PKK sit-in in southeastern Turkiye

By Mehmet Siddik Kaya

DIYARBAKIR, Turkiye (AA) - A sit-in in Turkiye’s southeastern Diyarbakir province continues to grow as one more family joined the protest against the PKK terror group.

Since Sept. 3, 2019, the protesting families have been camping outside the offices of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), a party the Turkish government said has links to the PKK.

Fahriye Bingol and her husband, Nusret, said their son Vedat was “taken to the mountains” by the PKK terror group in 2019 when he was 22.

The parents said they have not heard from their son ever since he disappeared and their concerns about his whereabouts further grew in the past few days as some people in the internet said Vedat, whose father was a village headman, was executed.

“If my son is dead, then give us his body. I do not believe it. I will not leave here until his body arrives,” Nusret said.

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

The protest has borne fruit as dozens of children forcibly abducted or recruited by the terror group fled the PKK and reunited with their families.

* Writing by Ali Murat Alhas