Families’ anti-PKK protest in Turkey grow stronger, more resolute

MUS/DIYARBAKIR, Turkey

Families whose children were forcibly recruited or abducted by PKK terror group accused the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) of being an accomplice on Wednesday.

They have been protesting in Diyarbakir province 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 HDP, which the government accuses of having links to the PKK, started with three mothers who said their children were forcibly recruited by the terrorists.

In southeastern Diyarbakir, Necibe Ciftci, whose son, Rosat, was abducted by the terror group six years ago when he was just 16, said she is determined to continue with the protest until she is reunited with her son.

Ciftci, originally from southeastern Hakkari province bordering Iraq and Iran, said her eldest son, Sami, was also abducted by the PKK after he refused to support the terror group.

“I want my children back from PKK and HDP. I will not leave here,” she said.

She urged her boys to lay down their arms and surrender to security forces.

Another mother, Turkan Mutlu, whose daughter Ceylan was abducted by the PKK eight years ago, argued that the HDP was directly involved in her daughter’s abduction.

“I will stay here until I take my child back,” she said. “O, my daughter! If you listen or watch me, come back to me.”

In a separate yet related development, another family joined the sit-in protest in Mus province, taking the number of families there to six.

Joining the protest in front of a provincial HDP building, Yemliha Kaya said her brother, Mustafa, was abducted by the PKK in 2015.

“Ever since, we never heard of him. I want nothing but my brother,” she said.

Umit Kaya said the PKK and its "apparatus HDP, work for foreign powers."

"We, Kurds, have no problem whatsoever with Turkish people or Turkey. We are Kurds of Turkey," he said.

Offenders in Turkey 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 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.