Families in SE Turkey continue protest against terrorist PKK abductions

By Aziz Aslan

DIYARBAKIR, Turkey (AA) - Aydan Arslan is among a group of demonstrators who are protesting the PKK terror group in the southeastern province of Diyarbakir to have their children returned who were forcibly recruited and abducted.

She joined the sit-in for sake of her daughter, Aysun, who was abducted in 2016 at the age of 15.

The protest began on Sept. 3, 2019, with parents staging a sit-in outside the office of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) which they accuse of playing a role in their children's disappearance. The Turkish government accuses the HDP of having links to the PKK terror group.

“I want my beloved child from the HDP. I have been longing for her for years, enough is enough,” she said. “I am not going anywhere before taking my child back.”

The weeping mother pleaded with Aysun to flee the ranks of the PKK and come back.

Another tearful mother, Necibe Ciftci, said she was part of the sit-in because her son, Roshat, was abducted at 16 in 2015.

“We want our children from the HDP and the PKK. Here we are sitting next to the [office] door of the HDP in the cold,” she said, pleading with Roshat to surrender to Turkish security forces.

In Turkey, offenders linked to terrorist groups are eligible for possible sentence reductions under a repentance law, if they surrender.

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

*Writing by Ali Murat Alhas