The fifth year is nearly rolling around for the “Diyarbakır Mothers,” a group of women who wait solemnly in makeshift tents to protest the abduction of their children by the PKK terrorist group in the eponymous southeastern province.
For the past 1,810 days, dozens of women have been holding a silent yet resilient sit-in protest outside the offices of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), which is known for its ties to the terrorist group.
“I will sit here in protest until my daughter is returned to me,” Türkan Mutlu, one of the women waiting for her daughter, Şeyma Ceylan.
Şeyma was abducted from Istanbul to “the mountains” by PKK terrorists 11 years ago, an expression used to refer to terrorists at large in mountainous regions of southeastern Türkiye and Iraq.
“I am here on the doorstep of those who hurt me, who took my daughter away. They took her pen away and handed her a weapon,” Mutlu told Anadolu Agency (AA).
“I miss her so much. I want my daughter back,” she said, calling out to her daughter to surrender to security forces.
Claiming to fight for Kurdish self-rule, the PKK has lured many into its cause in the predominantly Kurdish southeast of Türkiye. For years, through intimidation, killings and bombings, it kept its grip on the Kurdish population.
Then, in September 2019, something rarely seen in the region happened. A group of mothers who had not heard from their children for years started a protest outside the HDP's headquarters.
They claimed that the party staff helped the PKK to draw recruits. Under the guise of participation in “festivals” and similar events organized by the HDP, the Kurdish youth was brainwashed into joining the terrorist group.
The women’s simple protest in Diyarbakır soon grew into something larger and eventually led to a lengthy sit-in strike. The “children watch,” as they themselves dubbed it, drew some 375 families while fathers joined the sit-in strike.
It also gave birth to similar protests in other eastern provinces and, in one case, in Germany, where a mother launched a solo sit-in against PKK’s abduction of her daughter.
The solidarity of families drew nationwide praise and shed light on the dark side of the terrorist group seeking legitimacy through the HDP.
In about five years, some 53 families reunited with their children. Some children, now in their 20s, fled the terrorist group when they became aware of the sit-in, while others were already planning to escape from the northern Iraqi hideouts of the group.
Türkiye has remorse laws in place for surrendering terrorists. In some cases, they can walk free if they are not involved in lethal terrorist attacks.
But for the rest, waiting prevails, amid occasional visits by families reunited with their sons and daughters that boost their morale.
Rahime Taşçı’s son Faruk was 15 years old when he was kidnapped from the eastern Kars province a decade ago.
“The HDP kidnapped my son and gave him to the PKK,” Taşçı accused.
“Even if 100 years pass, I will not let my son go. I will not go home without taking my son,” she said, reiterating the group’s commitment to the protest.
