ŞIRNAK - Hatice Tatlı, whose children participated in the Kurdish freedom struggle, said “Turkish State attacks us because we are Kurds. They try to make us spy. "We will not be members of MIT(Turkish National Intelligence Organization) and spies."

 

The AKP  and  MHP's (Nationalist and conservative two parties in Turkey) policies of pressure and threat against the Kurds continue to increase. These policies, especially carried out in the provinces of the region, reveal themselves with dimensions ranging from home raids to arrests, threats and insults. Policies towards families whose children have joined the PKK or are in prison are getting harder with each passing day. Families whose children join the PKK (The Kurdistan Workers' Party) are subjected to repressions of the state in Şırnak, one of the provinces in the region where the pressure has increased.

 

 Her two children joined the PKK

 

Living in Şırnak's İdil district, Hatice Tatlı (70), one of the mothers who have been disturbed by the state, has been subjected to pressure by various policies. Hatice, who lost one of her children in a conflict, has one child joining the PKK and another child in prison, has been subjected to  pressure by  the state due to the decisions of her children. Hatice, whose daughter Negrin Tatlı joined the PKK in 2012 due to the state repressions against the Kurds, stated that her son, who was supposed to go to the military, refused to join the military and followed his sister's path.

 

"While the pains for my children are still in my heart, state repression makes it worse"

 

Hatice stated that many members of her family joined the PKK due to the pressures by Turkish State. She said her daughter was killed in the attacks on Efrin province of Northern Syria by Turkish forces in 2017. Hatice explained her experiences with the following words: “My daughter is martyred, one of my son joined to PKK, and one of my son is in the prison, one of my son, who lived with me, died in a traffic accident. While the pain for my children are still in my heart, state repression makes it worse. Recently, in the middle of the night, while we were all asleep, police raided our house and messed up everywhere. When they came home, they asked "Where is Ayhan?" Referring to my son who was on the mountain. And I reacted by saying "You know where he is, why do you ask?" They searched the house for hours. Even though they knew where my son was, they raided our house and asked questions about my son to disturb us. “

 

"Neither the Turkish State can be friends with us , nor we with them"

 

Drawing attention to the state's hostile attitudes with the words “Neither the Turkish State can be friends with us , nor we with them”, Hatice said, “The state attacks us because we are Kurds. They attack our children for joining the PKK. Even showing victory sign is considered as crime.  What do they want from us? We will not be as they wish. We will not do what they want. They won't get what they want. They try to make as spies. We will not be members of MIT and spies for them. We are proud of our children. We are in dignity with them. There is no treason in our blood. My children do not betray their people. Not only my children, but also thousands of people are  on the mountains. All of them are our children. She pointed out that they will struggle by the words "We will never bow to pressure."

 

'Pandemic makes prisoners' conditions more  difficult'

 

Referring to the conditions of her son Sait Tatlı too, who is in prison, Hatice pointed out that he has been in prison under difficult conditions for months. Drawing attention to the problems worsening in prisons with the pandemic, Hatice said, “My son has been in prison for months. He has children waiting for him outside. For months, his children have not been able to see him. Prisons have worse conditions after pandemic broke out. "Violations of rights have increased and we cannot go to see him."