In Turkey, Mothers’ Quest For Justice Exposes Political Hypocrisy

Mothers in Istanbul and Diyarbakir fight for their sons, either to find them or to release them from prison after unjust conviction. The ruling party’s selective approach exposes deep moral flaws.

Mothers of young boys who were believed to be taken by PKK to mountains protest in front of Kurdish HDP party in Diyarbakir. (Photo Credit: D Agency)

In Diyarbakir, the heartland of Turkey’s restive Kurdish population, a group of mothers’ weekslong sit-in protest in front of the pro-Kurdish party to demand information regarding whereabouts of their sons believed to be captured by the outlawed PKK has generated an ongoing political controversy. It galvanized the public and whipped up remarkable support for the mothers at the national level.

The protest in Diyarbakir is, by nature, of an awkward type from numerous angles, but grasping the rationale of choosing the People’s Democracy Party (HDP) as the responsible actor expected to resolve the riddle of mysterious disappearances of several high school students is the most difficult part of any effort to make sense of the entire drama. Why the HDP? Is the party’s regional headquarters in Diyarbakir an office of finding missing persons?

Certainly, the issue is more complicated than it seems. Why does a government minister embarrass herself by shedding tears in…