Mothers' outcry ‘most dignified’ stance against PKK

ANKARA

The outcry of the mothers in southeastern Turkey for their children abducted by PKK terror group is the most dignified stance against terrorism, the country’s vice president said on Monday.

Speaking at an event in Ankara to commemorate the Karbala Martyrs, Fuat Oktay said the mothers' protest "is hope for peace."

"The outcry and resistance of the mothers, whose children have been kidnapped [by the PKK] to the mountains in Diyarbakir, are the most honorable stance against those who want terror and conflict," Oktay said.

"It is in our hands to frustrate all the efforts of those who try to create enmities on the basis of ethnicities and sects [...]," Oktay said.

A total of 17 mothers have been staging a sit-in protest outside the provincial office of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) -- long accused by the government of having links to the PKK terror group -- in Diyarbakir.

On Sept. 3, Fevziye Cetinkaya, a mother, launched the sit-in protest against alleged recruitment of her teenage son by the PKK.

Cetinkaya said her 17-year-old son had joined the ranks of the PKK terror group through members of HDP.

On the same day, three more mothers -- who said their children were kidnapped by the PKK affiliates -- joined the protest with Cetinkaya, and the number of protesting families have been rising since then.

On Saturday, Necla Cur and her husband Bedirhan Cur from eastern Agri province, and Guzide Demir from Diyarbakir province also joined the protest in order to raise their voice to save their children from the hands of the terror group.

Last month, Hacire Akar, another mother, staged a similar protest near the opposition party's office. Her son returned home a few days later giving hope to a number of mothers who suffer the same circumstances.

In its more than 30-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK -- listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and the EU -- has been responsible for the deaths of some 40,000 people, including women, children and infants.