Woman continues protest in Germany for rescue of daughter from PKK

BERLIN (AA) - A German-Turkish woman has continued her protest in front of the German Chancellery on Wednesday to raise awareness about the PKK terrorist group’s forced recruitment of young people and children.

Maide T., who is seeking help from the German government for the rescue of her daughter, tried to catch the attention of Chancellor Angela Merkel and Interior Minister Horst Seehofer, as they arrived at the Chancellery for the weekly Cabinet meeting.

She was holding a sign which said “Ms. Merkel, Mr. Seehofer. Please help me ! I want to rescue my daughter from the PKK!”

A group of sympathizers also supported her by holding a banner saying: "The PKK is a virus. Help me save my child."

Maide T. told reporters that she will travel to Diyarbakir, southeastern Turkey, next month to meet with families whose children were also abducted or forcibly recruited by the PKK.

“We all hope for being able to see our children again. Our common struggle is for rescuing our children from the terror group,” she said.

According to Maide, her daughter Nilufer T. has been missing since leaving for school in November 2019.

She was influenced by the propaganda of the PKK after visiting a cultural center in the capital Berlin, which was used by the terrorist group for brainwashing young people, and recruiting them to the group.

The PKK has been classified as an “ethno-nationalist” and “separatist” terrorist organization by the EU's law enforcement agency EUROPOL, and has been banned in Germany since 1993.

But it remains active in the country, with nearly 14,500 followers among the country's Kurdish immigrant population.

Turkey has long criticized German authorities for not taking serious measures against the PKK, which uses the European country as a platform for their recruitment, fundraising, and propaganda activities.

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