DIYARBAKIR, Turkey

For 639 days, a group of sit-in families whose children have been abducted or forcibly recruited by the PKK terror group has been waiting for their children in southeastern Turkey.

The families have been protesting since Sept. 3, 2019, encouraging their children to give up their weapons and surrender to Turkish authorities.

Protests outside the office of the opposition Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) in the Diyarbakir province started with three mothers who said their children had been forcibly recruited by the terrorists. The Turkish government says the HDP has links to the PKK terrorist organization.

Fatma Akkus is one of the mothers protesting for the return of her daughter Songul, who was abducted by the terror group seven years ago when she was 15.

"We aren't leaving here without reuniting with our children," Akkus said, and urged her daughter to return.

She also said: "25 parents are happy now. Their children came back, you (should) come too," referring to the families who reunited with their children as a result of the ongoing protest.

Suleyman Aydin, a protesting father, said their children are sentenced to death in the mountains and voiced determination to continue the protest until they come back.

"No mother and father will leave here before we get our children from the HDP," he said.

Aydin called on his child to surrender to the security forces.

Offenders in Turkey linked to terrorist 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.

*Writing by Sena Guler in Ankara