Anti-PKK sit-in protest continues in Turkey's southeastern Diyarbakır province

Kurdish families in Turkey whose children had been abducted or forcibly recruited by the PKK terrorist organization continued on Friday their sit-in protest in the southeastern Diyarbakır province on its 628th day.

The families have been protesting since Sept. 3, 2019, encouraging their children to give up their weapons and surrender to authorities.

Protests outside the office of the opposition Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) started with three mothers who said their children had been forcibly recruited by the terrorists. The Turkish government says the HDP has links to the PKK terror group.

Fatma Akkus, one of the mothers, whose daughter Songul was abducted six years ago, said: "We want our children from the HDP. How will these children go to the PKK without the HDP intermediary?"

"I am calling out not only to my daughter, but to all children. Surrender to our state. Enough is enough, we cannot stay at home. Please come back now. These mothers and fathers should not cry," the grieving mother added.

A protesting father, Lokman Çiftçi, whose son Emircan was abducted nine years ago at the age of 14, said they were determined to continue the sit-in protest against the PKK terror group.

He called on his son to surrender to Turkish security forces.

Later, the families unfurled a banner saying "We want our children, that's enough" in front of the HDP provincial building along with the pictures of their kidnapped children, and chanted slogans against the HDP.

In its more than 35-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK -- listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the US, and the EU -- has been responsible for the deaths of at least 40,000 people, including women, children, and infants.