"They’ve done what the Constitutional Court did not do; they shut down the HDP," Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu said Monday as he hailed a group of mothers seeking to reclaim their children from the PKK terrorist group.

Colloquially known as the "Diyarbakır Mothers," the group, which later included fathers and siblings of those abducted by the PKK and brainwashed to join it, continues to stage a sit-in outside the offices of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) in the southeastern province of Diyarbakır. They say the HDP staff persuaded their children to join the terrorist group, something reflected in an indictment against the party, which was accused of serving as the "recruitment office" of the PKK by the prosecutors. As Soylu pointed out, the sit-in did indeed "shut down" the offices of the HDP in the province, while a lawsuit underway will likely conclude with a verdict to close the party in its entirety for links to the terrorist group.

The mothers’ sit-in was the first open act of defiance against the terrorist group, which exploits the Kurdish community in Diyarbakır and wider eastern regions of Türkiye. The PKK, which claims to fight for Kurdish self-rule in the area, has long intimidated the local population by refusing to join them. It is known for its attacks against communities opposing its presence or propaganda.

Soylu, who spoke at an event in Istanbul, said Türkiye went through many challenges, from natural disasters to "foreign interventions," including the Gezi Park riots, the 2016 coup attempt and Oct. 6-8 incidents. "They wanted to change Türkiye for the worse, but today, we see a peaceful environment in the eastern and southeastern Türkiye," Soylu said. Although it launched attacks in other cities, the PKK’s campaign of violence concentrated on two regions where it targeted everyone from police officers and soldiers to infants.

Criticizing the HDP, Soylu said the party, "an affiliate of PKK," "masterfully exploited democracy" in Türkiye. The HDP will compete under the Green Left Party (YSP) in the upcoming legislative elections. At the same time, its leaders hinted that they would endorse the opposition bloc’s candidate Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu in the presidential poll.

The minister also pledged to end the presence of PKK terrorists "in the mountains" by the centenary of the Republic of Türkiye, which will be marked on Oct. 29. The terrorist group takes advantage of mountainous territory in southeastern Türkiye to hide out. Soylu said their efforts in recent years cleared the Kato and Cudi mountains of terrorists, reminding that the Kato mountain was known as "Qandil of Türkiye," after the mountain in Northern Iraq where PKK’s leadership maintains hideouts. He noted the construction of military bases across the mountains ensured the end of PKK terrorism, along with the use of uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs) in counterterrorism work. He said Turkish security forces neutralized two more terrorists on Sunday and the number of PKK terrorists estimated to be in Turkish territories was now "down to 86."