Government backs protest against PKK in SE Turkey

DIYARBAKIR, Turkey

As more families in southeastern Turkey joined a sit-in protest against PKK terror group, the country’s family minister reiterated government’s support to the demonstration.

"These mothers have been struggling to rescue their most valuable thing, their children, from the hands of a bloody terror group. We stand by these mothers in their struggle," Turkish Family Minister Zehra Zumrut Selcuk told reporters after visiting the mothers.

The number of the families taking part in the protest outside the provincial office of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) in Diyarbakir has risen to 17 since a mother, Fevziye Cetinkaya, said her 17-year-old son had joined the ranks of the terror group through members of the HDP.

Cetinkaya has been protesting since Sept. 3 against the alleged recruitment of children by the opposition party.

The Turkish opposition political party HDP has been accused by the government of having links to the PKK terror group.

On the same day, three more mothers -- who said their children were kidnapped by the PKK affiliates -- joined the protest with Cetinkaya, and the number of protesting families have been rising since then.

On Saturday, Necla Cur and her husband Bedirhan Cur from eastern Agri province and Guzide Demir from Diyarbakir province also joined the protest in order to raise their voice to save their children from the hands of the terror group.

Last month, Hacire Akar, another mother, staged a similar protest near the opposition party's office. Her son returned home a few days later giving hope to a number of mothers who suffer the same circumstances.

In its more than 30-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK -- listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and the EU -- has been responsible for the deaths of some 40,000 people, including women, children and infants.

Meanwhile, the messages of support from celebrities in Turkey have been pouring in on social media platforms.