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Peace mothers of Turkey have been continuously demanding justice and peace, trying to make their voices heard for decades.
Hanife Kaçak is one of them. Living in the Van (Wan) province of Turkey, years passed that she has not seen her daughter who joined the Kurdistan Worker’s Party (PKK) when she was a young woman.
“I wish I could even know whether she is alive or not. Like any mother, I want to celebrate that day with my children but it is not possible if you are Kurdish and you demand justice in this country” she told Jin News.
Kaçak, who has experienced all the horror of war states that they do not want anyone, neither a guerilla, soldier or police to die anymore.
“Every day we hear someone else has died, how long will these war policies continue? NATO has been providing guns that kill our children”.
Songül Abu is another Kurdish mother who welcomes Mother’s Day with sorrow and sadness.
“Our childen are behind bars. They are on a hunger strike to demand justice, when your child is on a hunger strike you can not think of any other thing” she says.
She calls on the authorities to meet the demands of the prisoners and end the isolation imposed against PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan. She also speaks about the problems she faces for not being able to speak her mother language in public institutions.
“ Even if I am sick I do not go to hospital since the doctors do not speak Kurdish and I have not spoken even a single word of Turkish my whole life. Our children wanted to end these injustices and they are away from us now. We Kurdish Mother’s have suffered a lot and we want to be able to celebrate Mother’s Day with our children”
Beybun Koçer lost her beloved child during the clashes between Kurdish fighters and the Turkish Armed Forces. When she is asked about Mother’s Day; she answers with deep sorrow;
“My heart aches. I do not want any other person to live with this pain. This war should end. The oppression against the Kurdish people should end. Let the doors of the prisons open, let Abdullah Öcalan meet with his family and lawyer”
Hediye Akman also lost her child during the war like so many other Kurdish mothers.
“We as Kurds have seen the dead bodies of our children dragged on the roads by the soldiers. They never even respect our dead. I am calling to the state, stop the war against Kurds. Mothers want to meet with their children.”
