Security

PHOTOS: PKK continues to recruit child soldiers

“These children left their homes secretly without informing their families.” “Their families so far don’t know that PKK has recruited their children.”

Dler S. Mohammed 2022/02/13 11:59

Child soldiers recruited by PKK. (Photo: Kurdistan 24)

Middle East PKK Dorran Kalkan Child Soldiers Child abuse

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Kurdistan 24 has received photographs of 12 to 13-year-old boys and girls illegally recruited by the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

According to Kurdistan 24 source, the PKK has tricked these children through social media and brainwashed them with fake promises.

The source, who preferred not to disclose their identity for security reasons, told Kurdistan 24 that the majority of these children are females from Sinjar district (Shingal), northeast Syria (Rojava), and southeast of Turkey (Bakur).

“These children left their homes secretly without informing their families,” the source told Kurdistan 24. “Their families so far don’t know that PKK has recruited their children.”

“In the eyes of their families, their children have suddenly disappeared, without them knowing what happened to them,” the source added.

The sources said that these photos were taken on Qandil Mountain, home of the PKK’s main headquarters, Sinjar Mountain, and other locations under PKK control.

The children are wearing PKK fighting outfits and carrying weapons in the photos. The photos were taken between 2014–2022, according to the source.

In some photos, senior PKK leading members, such as Dorran Kalkan, pose for pictures with girl recruits.

Many families living in areas close to PKK-controlled territories have reported their children missing. Children disappearing has become common among residents living near PKK-controlled areas.

Parents of the recruited child soldiers often call on PKK through media interviews to return their children. However, the PKK always denies having anybody’s children in its custody.

Children become part of the PKK group for various reasons. Some are abducted, threatened, coerced, or manipulated. Others are driven by poverty, compelled to earn income for their families. Still, others associate themselves with PKK for survival and are drawn in by the group’s false promises.

The PKK has fought the Turkish Army for decades and has long used child soldiers it recruited in that fight. Turkey, the United States, the United Kingdom, and the European Union all designate the PKK as a terrorist organization.

While living among PKK fighters, these children experience unconscionable forms of violence. They must participate in harrowing training or engage in combat – with grave risk of death, chronic injury, and disability. They also witness, suffer, or are forced to take part in torture and killings. Girls, especially, are subjected to gender-based violence or sexual harassment.

Human rights law declares 18 as the minimum legal age for recruiting individuals as soldiers. The recruitment of children under 15 as soldiers is prohibited under international humanitarian law and defined as a war crime by the International Criminal Court.

Thousands of children are recruited and used in armed conflicts across the world, according to a UNICEF report. Between 2005 and 2020, more than 93,000 children were verified as recruited and used by parties or groups listed on international terror lists. The actual number of cases is believed to be even higher.