Families start hunger strike in Diyarbakır for return of children who joined PKK

DİYARBAKIR – Anadolu Agency

Several families have been holding a sit-in protest in front of the Diyarbakır Municipality for over a months. DHA Photo

A group of families in the southeastern province of Diyarbakır have started a hunger strike to demand the return of their children who joined the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

The families were holding a sit-in protest in front of the Diyarbakır Municipality amid demands that the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) mediate for the release of their children.

Municipal officials removed the families from the area, but they have continued the protest across the road. The tents of the families were also removed from the area when they took a two-day break to the protests. The families decided to begin a hunger strike when they returned to the area and saw that their tents had been removed.

Reşit Koç, who came from Hakkari’s Şemdinli district to demand the return of his 19-year-old daughter Zübeyde Koç, is one of those participating in the two-day hunger strike. “Our only desire is to take our children back. They have taken our tents and now we will stay here under the sun. We are determined to continue our protest,” Koç said, also calling on officials to help them on the issue.