Turkey: Family reunites with son kidnapped by PKK

DIYARBAKIR, Turkey

One more family on Thursday reunited with its son kidnapped by the PKK terrorist organization in southeastern Turkey.

An aggrieved family's longing has come to an end as Erkan Akkus, abducted and took to the mountains by the terrorists four years ago, surrendered to the Turkish security forces.

The Akkus family was known for joining a sit-in protest against the YPG/PKK terror group in the southeastern city of Diyarbakir, outside the office of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), which the government accuses of having links to the terrorist organization.

The protest began on Sept. 3 last year in Diyarbakir when Fevziye Cetinkaya, Remziye Akkoyun, and Aysegul Bicer said their children had been forcibly recruited by PKK terrorists, and has been growing day by day since then.

Having received the good news, the Akkus family came to Diyarbakir from the Turkish metropolitan city of Istanbul where they reside.

It was learned that the parents will meet with their surrendered son during the day.

Meryem Akkus, mother of Erkan, told reporters that she is very happy that she would be reunited with her son.

"May Allah be pleased with our state and security forces. We had a son, we raised him, but we didn't know that this would happen. How they [terrorists] got him into this swamp, how they took him, we don't know," she said.

"I hope everyone in the protest returns home with their children. I am very happy."

Fahrettin Akkus, father of Erkan, also thanked Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu, and the provincial police department of Diyarbakir for helping the family meet their son again.

"It's like I was born again," he said.

Noting that he has always been determined and constantly participating in the sit-in, Akkus said: "There was no peace in our family, we cried all the time. I hope other families can also unite with their children. This pain is not easy."

In the first anniversary of the sit-in protest, a total of 16 families reunited with their children.

One more family joins protest

On Thursday, Ribabsa Baykara, who came from the Bulanik district of Turkey’s eastern Mus province, also joined the protest outside the HDP office in Diyarbakir.

Speaking in Kurdish, Baykara said her son Azad was kidnapped over seven years ago, when he was 18, by the PKK terrorists and was forcibly taken to the mountains.

"I want my son back, I don't want anything else. I want to hear about him, whether he is alive or dead. If he's alive, let him return. I came here for my son," Baykara said, adding that she wants her son to escape from the terror group and surrender to the security forces.

So far, over 150 families came from across the country to protest over the pain of being separated from their children.

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.

* Writing by Jeyhun Aliyev in Ankara.