Families of Turkish soldiers held by PKK demand release
Coming from different provinces, among them Kurdish Mardin, Siirt and Malatya, parents demanded information on their children's safety and wellbeing.
DIYARBAKIR, Turkey (Kurdistan24) - At a press conference on Thursday, families of 13 Turkish soldiers held by the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) went to the Kurdish city of Diyarbakir and called for their sons' release.
Parents came from different provinces, among them Kurdish cities of Mardin, Siirt, and Malatya.
They demanded information on their children's safety and wellbeing, said a Kurdistan24 reporter at the conference.
Speaking to the media at Human Rights Association's (IHD) Diyarbakir branch, Songul Altintas whose son Muslum Altintas was captured in 2015 in the Dersim province said her son was not fighting the PKK when they took him.
"Enough is enough. I am calling on the Prime Minister and the President. We sent our children to the army, and they are gone. Why won't you follow their cases," Altintas asked the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
PKK has been waging a guerrilla warfare against the Turkish army in a four-decades-long campaign against state policies targeting Kurdish identity and political demands.
Over the years, PKK has taken scores of Turkish soldiers as POWs and in most cases has released them later.
In March 2013, shortly before the declaration of a ceasefire with Turkish government forces, the PKK set eight soldiers and state administrative employees free in Kurdistan Region's Qandil mountains.
Head of IHD's Diyarbakir branch, Raci Bilici recounted how his association worked with both sides to secure the 2013 release.
"We have been to the Southern Kurdistan before to take state personnel and brought them to their families. We as human rights activists are ready to do all necessary to help them be free," said Bilici.
"We hope the PKK and the government listen to us," he added.
PKK resumed keeping Turkish soldiers after the 2015 collapse of the ceasefire and peace talks.
There are no clear estimates on how many Turkish troops are at the hands of the PKK as the government and army shun questions.
Sirin Sungur, the father of Suleyman Sungur whom the PKK took two years ago in Diyarbakir, said he was Kurdish and his son was innocent.
"Nothing [bad] about my son. He was just a soldier. His fiance is waiting for him. For God's sake, set him free," Sungur pleaded.
Editing by Ava Homa
(Kurdistan24 Diyarbakir Bureau contributed to this report.)