Families' Sit-In Against PKK Continues In SE Turkey

Families of children abducted or forcibly recruited by the PKK terror group continue their sit-in protest in Turkey's southeastern Diyarbakir province on its 582nd day.

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

Ayten Elhaman, one of the mothers continuing the protest with pictures of their children in hand, said she was waiting for her son's return.

Calling on her son, Elhaman said: "Come, surrender. You're my first child. I won't leave this place without getting you back. I cry every day looking at your clothes in your room. Enough is enough, let this suffering end. I'm waiting for you with your father and siblings."

Hatice Levent, another mother who had come to the sit-in from Turkey's western province of Kutahya, said she continues to protest with resolve for her daughter Fadime Levent.

"We won't feed our children to the PKK curse. My child, if you hear me, run and come. Your place is not there. I miss you dearly. Your hand was holding a pen, but they gave you a gun. Leave that gun, come back," Levent said, calling for her daughter to surrender to the security forces.

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 40,000 people, including women, children, and infants.

1 more family joins sit-in protest

One more family joined the protest against the PKK terror group in the southeastern Diyarbakir province on Tuesday.

Turkan Bayrak came from the eastern Mus province to join the sit-in for her son Ozkan Tufenci, who was deceived and taken to the mountains by the terror group six years ago.

Joining the protest with her other son, Resul Tufenci, mother Bayrak said Ozkan was deceived by the terror group in Istanbul, where he had gone to earn a living.

Speaking in Kurdish, the grieving mother said her son was deaf and illiterate. Bayrak added that she decided to participate in the protest after seeing some of the protesting families reunite with their children on television.

"My son went to Istanbul to work and disappeared a week later. The HDP took my son. Whoever deceived him, should bring him back. My son is sick and disabled. I want my son from the HDP," she added.

Turkan also called on Ozkan to surrender to the security forces.

Resul, for his part said: "The HDP deceived my brother, brainwashed him, then took him away. We won't leave until my brother returns."

*Writing by Merve Berker and Burak Dag in Ankara -