JINHA

ANKARA - A group of mothers who lost their children to repression and war in Turkey has reached the capital of Ankara. The women are demanding peace with the slogan, "Get your hands off our children."

A group of mothers set out from cities across Turkey to protest the ongoing war in the country. The women reached the capital of Ankara yesterday. The historic trip takes place on the 19th anniversary of the day the anti-war group Peace Mothers traveled to Ankara to demand an end to the war in Turkey and Kurdistan.

Among their number are mothers of guerrillas who lost their lives in Kurdistan; and mothers of Turkish soldiers; and the Saturday Mothers, who demand justice for their loved ones lost to enforced disappearances. Other women in attendance lost their children in the bombing of Roboski village in 2011; the Gezi protests of 2013; and the bombing of activists in Suruç, Turkey in July of this year.

In the bus from Istanbul, mothers sang Kurdish and Turkish laments for their lost children. Along the way, the women shared their stories of pain with one another, despite their differences.

The group reached the Turkish capital of Ankara yesterday. The women had obtained a meeting with officials from the ruling AKP government, but were told that a delegation of only three mothers would be allowed to meet with officials.

"As Peace Mothers, we are the mothers of 17,000 people lost to killings, political murders and disappearances under arrest in the 1980s and 1990s," said Peace Mother Songul Çelik, speaking outside the Turkish Parliament. Songul said that today, the women came to "the place where the war began" to demand an end to the deaths.

"We know what war has done here. We lost our children. We lost our nature," said Songul. "The people who started this war need to stop immediately. It's not just our children dying in this war. This isn't to protect the country. This is why we've become a wall against war, to show the dirty face of this war."

Today, the women will meet with UN officials and diplomatic representatives of various countries to demand that they take action against the violence in Turkey.

(mı/de/fk/cm)