Families continue anti-YPG/PKK protest in Turkey

By Ahmet Kaplan

DIYARBAKIR, Turkey (AA) - A protest in southeastern Turkey against the YPG/PKK terror group entered its 355th day on Saturday, with parents demanding the return of their children they say have been kidnapped by the terrorists.

Protesters camped outside the offices of the opposition Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) in Diyarbakir province have vowed to remain until the return of every child.

The protest outside the HDP, a party accused by Ankara of having links to the YPG/PKK terror group, was started last September by three mothers -- Fevziye Cetinkaya, Remziye Akkoyun and Aysegul Bicer.

They, along with the dozens of other families that have joined the demonstration so far, accuse the terror group of forcibly recruiting their children.

One of the aggrieved parents, Hatice Ay, said she has not heard from her son since he was abducted by the terror group five years ago when he was just 16.

"Come home, my son, what are you doing there? Come and surrender to the state and justice," Ay said.

Another father, Sevket Altintas, said the protest entered its 355th day but that he has been deprived of his son, Muslum, for 1,786 days.

"The PKK is persecuting us in front of the eyes of the world," Altintas said.

"[The PKK terror group] abducts 10-to-12-year-old girls and tells us: 'We are fighting for you.' I call to the Kurdish people; they dishonor us saying 'We defend the rights of the Kurds.'"

Under a repentance law in Turkey, offenders linked to terrorist groups are eligible for reduced sentences if they surrender.

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 Erdogan Cagatay Zontur