A group of demonstrators known as the “Diyarbakır Mothers” marked another Mother’s Day on Sunday without a reunion with their children who were brainwashed to join the terrorist group PKK years ago.
The “mothers,” who were later joined by male members of families, started a sit-in protest in 2019 outside the building of a party with links to the PKK, in the southeastern province of Diyarbakır. Since then, the number of families joining the protest reached 385. They claim the party, the now-defunct Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), had tricked their sons and daughters, mostly teenagers, into joining the terrorist group.
The protest was unprecedented, especially in Diyarbakır, a province with a predominantly Kurdish population. The PKK claims to fight for Kurdish rights and, for decades, has exploited the disillusioned Kurdish youth to join them. The Diyarbakır Mothers’ act was the first instance of defiance against the PKK in the wider region where the local population is intimidated by the terrorist group. Over time, it paid off, with 77 families reuniting with their children who surrendered to Turkish authorities, mostly on Türkiye’s border with northern Iraq, where the PKK has hideouts. Surrendered members of the PKK are often handed out lenient sentences, including house arrests, if they invoke a law for collaborators and if they are not involved in acts of terrorism.
Mevlüde Üçdağ still awaits good news from her son Ramazan. Ramazan was brainwashed to join the group when he was 17. Üçdağ sought to reunite with him for years, even traveling to Iraq once, but could not find her son. Pro-PKK websites reported in 2018 that Üçdağ was killed, but the mother was determined to get him back, dead or alive. Speaking to Anadolu Agency (AA) on Sunday, Üçdağ said she missed him very much. “It would mean the world to me if he were here with me now. Mother’s Day is just an ordinary day for me without him,” she said.
Ayten Elhaman, who joined the mothers to reunite with her son Bayram, said they never lost their determination and always had hopes for the return of their children. “The terror-free Türkiye process is a new hope for us. We wake up with new hopes every morning. Seventy-seven children returned to their families, and Allah willing, we will have ours back too,” she said, adding that reuniting with her son would be “the greatest gift for Mother’s Day.”
Sariye Tokay said she has been holding the sit-in protest in the hope of reuniting with her son Mehmet, adding that they have continued their struggle for their children regardless of summer or winter, illness or pandemics.
Stating that they will not give up their struggle until they are reunited with their children, Tokay said they are marking yet another Mother’s Day with sorrow. “My son used to celebrate both my Mother’s Day and his grandmother’s every year, but unfortunately, we have been apart for 15 years. We don’t have a ‘Mother’s Day.’ Our only wish is for all mothers to be reunited with their children.”
Fatma Laçin, who seeks to reunite with her son Muhammed, said her only child was taken away from her. Emphasizing that she is fighting to reunite with her son, Laçin said, “I hope no mother has to cry anymore.”
