Another group of mothers start protest in Istanbul

After days of support and tolerance for Diyarbakır mothers protesting at opposition HDP offices in the southeastern city, another group of mothers took to the ruling AKP offices in Istanbul this time for their jailed sons and daughters who were military students during the failed coup on July 15, 2017

Tuesday September 17 2019 11:04 am

Duvar English / ISTANBUL

A group of mothers whose sons and daughters have been sentenced to life for involvement in the failed July 15 coup in 2017, started a sit-in in front of the the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) Istanbul Provincial Headquarters at Sütlüce, Istanbul on Monday.

One of the protesting mothers, Ayten Güleşçi said even though the police tried to stop them, they will keep on sitting in front of the party building.

The sit-in in Istanbul comes days after the tolerance and support of the government and pro-government media, for a similar protest in Diyarbakır, a southeastern city, where mothers are staging a sit-in in front of the opposition Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) Provincial Headquarters. Diyarbakır mothers are claiming that their missing sons were kidnapped by the unlawful organization, PKK and they are demanding that HDP mediates.

A group of 15 people gathered in front of AKP provincial headquarters on Monday morning. Their children have been unjustly imprisoned for two years and sentenced to life, mothers said, even though they were only military school students obeying orders and being transferred from one place to another by bus. The mothers were not allowed to make a press statement and they were intervened by police, one of the mothers, Ayten Güleşçi said. "We want our rights; we want freedom. We want to see an official. Our only demand is for our sons and daughters to be freed. We want our voices to be heard."

Another mother whose son was a student at the Air Force Academy at the time of the failed coup, Fatma Oka, said, "We want the rights of our children. An official should answer us. Our children were under the protection of the state. We trusted our children to the state. We expect a solution from the state; this is why we are doing this. We have tried to find a solution almost everywhere with no result. The police is trying to block us, but we explained them the situation. The children of Diyarbakır mothers were taken by the PKK; ours were taken by the state. We are also mothers."