As the sit-in protest of families demanding the return of their children abducted by the PKK continues in front of the pro-PKK Peoples' Democratic Party's (HDP) provincial office in southeastern Diyarbakır, one more family claiming their daughter was abducted by the PKK and taken to northern Syria joined the crowd yesterday.
Cabir Taş, who lives in Istanbul, said his 14-year-old daughter Ece went for a lunch break at a textile factory where she worked four years ago and that it was the last time they heard from her.
"She may have been brought to Kobani [the Syrian town of Ayn al-Arab]. Since then, I have not heard from her," said Taş.
Saying that he learned from Ece's friends that she was abducted and taken to Kobani, Taş stated that he went to Kobani three times to find his daughter.
He also said he decided to join the protests after he saw families sharing similar pain on television.
Another father, Şemsettin Süer, whose son was killed in a bomb attack in Diyarbakır 11 years ago, visited the protesting families to show his support.
Süer said, "I believe that the honorable stancebyf mothers will end the terror."
The HDP, which has faced public reactions and judicial probes over its ties to the PKK, is under pressure from the protests launched by local families.
On the 15th day of the sit-in, which is the second stage of the initial protest that was launched by a Kurdish mother, Hacire Akar, last month, the number of families waiting in front of the HDP's provincial headquarters has reached 43, including five Iranian families. Following her initial protest, Akar's son returned home a few days later, giving hope to a number of mothers suffering the same circumstances.
A common theme in the disappearance cases was that most of the missing young people either visited the HDP headquarters or were last seen in the building before they went missing. Currently, however, the party rejects such claims, but some families are sure that their children are in the hands of the PKK, as the terrorist groups sent them voice recordings, while others have a strong suspicion despite lacking concrete evidence. Many families also said others were suffering similarly in situations but were afraid to come forward.
Back in 2011, families whose children were kidnapped by the PKK gathered for a sit-in protest in Diyarbakır to show their discontent for the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP), a party that preceded the HDP. Representatives of nongovernmental associati
ons were also present at the protest and pointed out that abducting a child for war and conflict is a crime against humanity according to the U.N. They blamed the HDP for being indifferent to the fact that children are being handed guns and trained for war.
