Anti-PKK sit-in protest continues in southeast Turkey

DIYARBAKIR, Turkey

Families in Turkey whose children have been abducted or forcibly recruited by the PKK terror organization continued a sit-in protest on Friday in the southeastern province of Diyarbakir.

Families have been protesting for 711 straight days since Sept. 3, 2019, encouraging their children to give up their weapons and surrender to authorities.

Protests outside the office of the opposition Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) in Diyarbakir started with three mothers who said their children were forcibly recruited by the terrorists.

The Turkish government accuses the HDP of having links to the PKK terror group.

Demonstrations have since spread to other provinces, including Van, Mus, Sirnak and Hakkari.

Sevgi Cagmar said she continues to protest because of the abduction of her son.

“We have been here for two years. I won’t leave here unless my child comes back,” she said as she underscored the pain of losing a child is undefinable.

“We have perished as a whole family,” said Cagmar, adding that all the families in the sit-in want their children back from the HDP.

She urged her son to surrender to security forces because she said, “Our state is just and powerful.”

Abdullah Demir said he is part of the anti-PKK protest because of his son, Fatih.

He said his family has been torn apart because of Fatih’s abduction.

“Our determination is endless. It is a matter of life-or-death,” he said, while praying for other families not to suffer from the absence of a loved child.

In Turkey, offenders linked to terror groups are eligible for possible sentence reductions under a repentance law, if they surrender.

In its more than 30-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, children and infants. The YPG is PKK's Syrian offshoot.

*Writing by Merve Berker