Turkish families stage anti-PKK protest on International Girl Child Day

By Aziz Aslan

DIYARBAKIR, Türkiye (AA) - Turkish families whose children were forcibly recruited or abducted by the PKK terror group continued their protest on the International Girl Child Day.

They have been protesting in the southeastern Diyarbakir province of Türkiye since Sept. 3, 2019, encouraging their children to give up their weapons and surrender to Turkish authorities.

The protest outside the offices of the opposition Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), which the government and several human rights groups accuse of having links to the PKK, started with three mothers who said their children were forcibly recruited by the terrorists.

Turkan Mutlu, who staged a sit-in for her daughter Ceylan, who was abducted from Istanbul nine years ago at the age of 17, remarked that every mother's goal is to see her daughter in a wedding gown.

Father Necmettin Bicer, who is hoping to reunite with his daughter Gulcan, said he has been unable to celebrate the International Day of the Girl Child for the past seven years.

"As a father, I am crying here. The so-called child and women's defender HDP talks about women's and girls' rights," he said.

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

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