Kurdish mother who joined anti-PKK sit-in named woman of year in SE Turkey

A woman, who joined the ongoing protest against the PKK terror group in southeastern Turkey, was named the woman of the year by local authorities on Monday.

Nazime Arslan was chosen by the Provincial Directorate of Family, Labor and Social Services in Hakkari province and received by local Governor and Mayor Idris Akbıyık in his office.

Akbıyık congratulated Arslan and staffers at the directorate on the International Women's Day.

Stressing that they will continue to support the families of terror victims, he said the government's decisive operations will eradicate terrorism.

Arslan, whose daughter Hatice was kidnapped from the Yüksekova district of Hakkari province six years ago at the age of 17, joined the protest in southeastern Diyarbakir province last December.

Her husband was also killed by the PKK terrorists four years ago.

The protest began on Sept. 3, 2019, when three mothers said their children had been forcibly recruited by PKK terrorists. The sit-in outside the office of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), which the government accuses of having links to the PKK, has been growing since then in Diyarbakir province.

In its more than 35-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK -- listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the US, and the EU -- has been responsible for the deaths of 40,000 people, including women, children, and infants.