Another family joins anti-PKK sit-in in southeastern Turkey

By Mehmet Siddik Kaya and Osman Bilgin

DIYARBAKIR, Turkey (AA) - One more family has joined the ongoing sit-in against the PKK terrorist group in southeastern Turkey on Saturday.

Families of children abducted or forcibly recruited by the PKK terror group have been protesting in the Diyarbakir province since Sept. 3, 2019, encouraging their children to give up their weapons and surrender to Turkish authorities.

The protest outside the office of the opposition Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), which the government accuses of having links to the PKK, had started with three mothers who said their children had been forcibly recruited by the terrorists.

Coming from eastern Bingol province, Ahmet Bayram, the father of Arafat, who was abducted and taken to the mountains seven years ago, joined the protest on Saturday.

Bayram said that his son was working at a restaurant in Istanbul's Umraniye district and he was deceived by the HDP.

"I begged them [HDP] in Istanbul but it was no use, they refused to return my son to me," he said.

He has visited the HDP building every year for the past seven years to find his son, the father said.

Bayram urged his son to surrender to Turkish security forces.

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

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.​​​​​​​