Mother fears PKK will use child as suicide bomber

As families continued their protest sit-in against the PKK terror group continues in Turkey’s eastern Diyarbakir province, one teary-eyed mother damned the group for abducting her mentally-challenged child for potential use as a suicide bomber.

Esmer Koc said her daughter Zubeyde was abducted in 2013 at the age of 15 and she has not heard from her child since then. She is worried because her daughter suffers mental challenges along with a hearing issue.

“My daughter was mentally handicapped,” said Koc, who fears her daughter could be manipulated into being used as a suicide bomber – a treacherous method used by the PKK terror group to target Turkey.

“I have had no news from my daughter since she left. I do not even know whether she is alive or not,” she said. “I am afraid the [PKK] would make her a suicide bomber.”

Koc said she worked day and night for better standards for her children but the PKK “stole her future” when she learned Zubeyde was forcibly taken to join the ranks of the terror group.

“Our peace at home has left us since she disappeared; I do not even want to eat or drink […] I want my children brought back,” she said, noting that kidnapping children was a strategy used by the terror group to brainwash.

Family devastated by abduction

Zubeyde's brother, Dogan, 16, said his family was devastated when she was abducted and it turned upside down the lives of the entire family.

“My mother does not want to eat or sleep, this incident has significantly affected our family. My brothers always get upset. My family does not let me go anywhere without permission for fear [of the PKK],” he said.

Through tears, he said he wanted to be a member of law enforcement and fight the PKK terror group so mothers would not be left without children.

“I joined this protest along with my mother in an effort to help and support the protesting families,” he said. “The enemy [PKK] will lose this fight, the families are determined and will not go anywhere before getting their children back. I will have my sister back as well, I hope.”

Those who played a role in Zubeyde’s abduction were given prison time, according to her mother, who firmly believes her daughter will return soon.

Launched on Sept. 3, 2019, mothers whose children were forcibly recruited by the terror group, have staged a sit-in demonstration that has grown daily outside the office of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP). Turkey has accused the party of having links to the YPG/PKK terror group.

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

Offenders in Turkey linked to terror groups who lay down their weapons and surrender to security forces are eligible for possible sentence reductions under a repentance law.