One more family joins sit-in against PKK in Turkey

DIYARBAKIR, Turkey 

One more family on Thursday joined a sit-in against the PKK terror group in southeastern Turkey.

The protest in Diyarbakir province outside the People's Democratic Party (HDP) office -- which the government accuses of having links to the PKK -- began on Sept. 3, 2019, when three mothers said PKK terrorists had forcibly recruited their children. It has been growing since.

Eyup Baran, a worried father from eastern Van province, joined the ongoing protest for her son Abdulhalim, who had been abducted by PKK six years ago when he was only 13.

He said the terror group used his son in illegal demonstrations and unrest against security forces when he was nine years old.

“He lost five of his fingers when the bomb he was handed over by PKK exploded in his hand."

He called on his son to lay down arms and surrender to Turkish security forces.

In its more than 30-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 40,000 people, including women, children, and infants.

* Writing by Ahmet Gencturk