Turkey: Another family joins anti-PKK protest

By Ahmet Kaplan

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

Families of children abducted or forcibly recruited by the PKK terror group have been protesting for more than a year in the Diyarbakir province, calling on their children to lay down arms and surrender to authorities.

The protest outside the office of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), which the government accuses of having links to the PKK, was started by three mothers on Sept. 3, 2019.

Cavres Durak, who came from the eastern Van province to join the sit-in, said her daughter, Zuhrete, was just 11 years old when she was abducted by the terror group.

Durak said her daughter was kidnapped from Van seven years ago and she has had no contact with her ever since.

“I want the HDP to give me back my daughter. They took my daughter; who else can take her? I raised my daughter in poverty. I will not leave until she returns,” she said.

“Come back, my daughter. Do not be afraid. Your mother and father are suffering; come if you see me.”

Zuhrete’s father said his daughter would never have done this on her own.

“She was just a small child, she was deceived,” he said.

“The pain of losing a child is too much. We will continue our protest until the end.”

The girl’s brother said Zuhrete was misled and deceived at school and taken to the mountains.

Families at the sit-in extended condolences to Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu over the death of his mother, Servet, who passed away at an Istanbul hospital on Saturday.

So far, at least 24 families have been reunited with their children, who fled the terror group and surrendered to Turkish security forces.

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

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.