Minister intervenes for KCK suspect’s sick children

ANKARA / CİZRE

DHA Photo

Family and Social Policies Minister Fatma Şahin has instructed the Şırnak Governor to “do whatever necessary” for the treatment of two siblings whose mother has been under arrest as part of the court case on the Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK), the alleged urban wing of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), Doğan news agency reported.

Cizre Deputy Mayor Hanım Onur of the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) was arrested in 2011 in the KCK case. Her husband is a runaway suspect in the same case and her five-year-old daughter Solin was staying with her in prison until she was diagnosed with leukemia. Her seven-year-old son, Mirhat, suffers from epilepsy. The two children are now staying with their grandparents.

An online petition asking for the release of Hanım Onur for her children’s health has collected almost 40,000 signatures at the website http://imza.la/solin-olmesin. The children’s situation has triggered reactions across the social media world, mainly on Twitter, with many calling on authorities to release the mother. Şahin intervened and told the governor to bring the two children to Ankara for treatment if their relatives give permission, daily Hürriyet reported.

On Feb. 9, Cizre local administrator Şenol Koca visited the children at the instruction of Minister Şahin, Doğan news agency reported.

Ayşe Yural, mother of Hanım Onur, said the children do not respond to treatment in the desired level because they cannot be with their mother. “We expect help from the officials,” she added.