Omer Yasin Engin
06 January 2022•Update: 06 January 2022
DIYARBAKIR, Turkiye
Families whose children have been abducted or forcibly recruited by the PKK terror group continued their protest in Turkiye’s southeastern Diyarbakir province on Thursday.
Since Sept. 3, 2019, families have camped for 851 days outside the Diyarbakir offices of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), a party the Turkish government says has links with the PKK.
Demonstrations have since spread to other provinces including Van, Mus, Sirnak and Hakkari.
Mevlude Ucdag, a mother, is firm in her belief that she will be reunited with her son Ramazan.
“My heart shatters every time I think of him. Just like all these other families, I want my child back,” said the woman, who is adamant that she will remain at the sit-in despite the increasing winter chill.
Ekrem Artik, whose son Erhan was abducted 2015, said the HDP tricked his son into joining the PKK terror group.
He said the terror organization has “no right to take away our children and shatter the dreams of our families.”
Artik called on his son to surrender to Turkish security forces.
In Turkiye, offenders linked to terrorist groups are eligible for possible sentence reductions under a repentance law, if they surrender.
In its more than 35-year terror campaign against Turkiye, the PKK – listed as a terrorist group by Turkiye, the US, and the EU – has been responsible for the deaths of over 40,000 people, including women, children and infants.
