Sit-in against YPG/PKK continues in SE Turkey

DIYARBAKIR, Turkey

A sit-in by families in southeastern Turkey entered its 246th day on Tuesday.

The protesters, camped outside the office of a Turkish opposition party in Diyarbakir province, are demanding that their children kidnapped by the YPG/PKK terrorists be returned.

Dozens of mothers launched the protest on Sept. 3, 2019, outside the offices of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), a party accused by the government of having links to the YPG/PKK terror group.

Aydan Arslan, one of the mothers, said her daughter Aysun had been kidnapped by the terror group in 2015 when she was only 15 years old.

Accusing the HDP of playing a role in the abduction, she said: "I want my daughter. Who will celebrate Mother's Day with me?”

Another protester, Kamile Kucukdag, whose son Engin was also abducted at the age of 15 five years ago, said she will stay put until her child returns.

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 the PKK's Syrian offshoot.

*Writing by Seda Sevencan in Ankara