Sit-in families’ protest in SE Turkey enters day 375

DIYARBAKIR, Turkey

The sit-in protest by a group of families who has been waiting for the return of their kids abducted by the YPG/PKK terrorists in southeastern Turkey continued on Friday on the 375th day.

The protest began on Sept. 3 last year in the city of Diyarbakir, when Fevziye Cetinkaya, Remziye Akkoyun and Aysegul Bicer said their children had been forcibly recruited by the PKK terrorists.

The sit-in outside the office of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) -- which the government accuses of having links to YPG/PKK -- has been growing day by day with the participation of many others since then.

Semra Talmac, one of the protesting mothers, said that her son Mehmet Seyhmus Talmaz was kidnapped and taken to the mountains by the HDP.

“If you have conscience and mercy, release my child,” she urged.

She called on her son to surrender to security forces and said: “We are waiting for you as your family.”

Talmac also reminded that 16 children have reunited with their families so far and stressed that she is hopeful for her son’s return.

Abdullah Demir, a protesting father, said that his son was also abducted by the HDP.

“They took our children and handed them to PKK,” Demir said.

He urged his son to surrender and come back home.

Offenders in Turkey linked to terrorist groups who surrender are eligible for possible sentence reductions under a repentance law.

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 Sena Guler