Families whose children have been abducted or forcibly recruited by the PKK terrorist organization continued a sit-in protest on Wednesday in Turkey’s eastern province of Mus.
Every week since April 7, families have been staging a sit-in outside the office of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) in Mus, trying to make their voices heard against the PKK terror group for abducting their children.
The number of families in the anti-PKK sit-in rose from eight to 15 as of Wednesday.
A mother, Elma Esener, and a father, Salih Kirmiziyildiz, joined the protest to demand the release of their children abducted by the PKK terrorist organization.
Elma Esener said she decided to be a part of the sit-in for her daughter, Elif Esener, who was kidnapped by the terror group seven years ago just two days before her wedding day.
Stressing that she will continue to protest until her daughter comes back, Esener stated: “Let them give my daughter back. I want my beloved child.”
“I am hurt crying all the time,” the mother moaned, calling on her daughter to return and surrender to the security forces.
“They took my daughter just two days before her wedding day. She did not leave by her will. They kidnapped her on gunpoint,” the woman said, adding: “I will keep waiting here till the day I die.”
Salih Kirmiziyildiz said he joined the anti-terror sit-in for his son, who was forcibly taken to the mountains by the PKK in 2014.
“I was in Istanbul when they abducted my son,” he said, adding: “I have not heard a single word about my son since then.”
He stated: “I’m waiting here for the return of my child. This is the first time I have joined any kind of protest.”
Suheyla Yenilmez, another mother in the sit-in, said: “They deceived my daughter Sumeyye Yenilmez in 2015 when she was still studying.”
“I want my daughter from the HDP. I will keep protesting until my child returns,” she added.
In Turkey, offenders linked to terrorist groups are eligible for possible sentence reductions under a repentance law, if they surrender.
The Turkish government accuses the HDP of having links to the PKK terror group.
In its more than 35-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK – listed as a terrorist group by Turkey, the US, and the EU – has been responsible for the deaths of at least 40,000 people, including women, children, and infants./aa
