Another family joins anti-PKK sit-in protest

By Mehmet Siddik Kaya

DIYARBAKIR, Turkey (AA) - One more family on Wednesday joined the ongoing sit-in protest in Turkey’s southeastern Diyarbakir province against the PKK in an effort to bring back their children abducted or forcibly recruited by terrorists.

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

Zeki Parlak, a man from the northeastern Kars province, joined the sit-in over the kidnapping of his brother Hakan.

Parlak called on his brother to surrender to security sources.

"I want my brother to surrender. I want my brother back from the HDP and PKK. My brother was just a child. He was deceived at the age of 16 and sent to the mountains," he said.

Parlak said his mother could not join the sit-in due to her bad health condition.

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 Seda Sevencan in Ankara​​​​​​​