The PKK terrorist group and its Syrian wing, the YPG, continue to forcefully abduct children and indoctrinate them, violating international law and hindering the children from seeing or contacting their families.
According to information Anadolu Agency (AA) has obtained from the Migration Directorate, efforts are continuing for children abducted by the PKK and other terrorist groups to be recognized as victims of human trafficking. Within this scope, the directorate has described 15 forcefully recruited children, two of which are Syrians, as victims of human trafficking.
The children who were around the ages of 9-17 during their horrendous experience within the PKK, have explained the practices and methods the terrorist organization uses to deceive the children into the group.
A Syrian child who joined the PKK at the age of 14 and fled the terrorist group said that the PKK engaged in several activities in Syria’s Aleppo province. Saying that he was convinced by his friends to take part in the PKK’s “meetings,” the child said the PKK told them they would receive training in order for them “to grow up” in Derik and would then return.
A group of the children were sent to the area and received training for one and a half months. Yet, after the training, when the children tried to go back to their homes, the PKK said that they are now recruited in the PKK and could not leave.
“You will be guerrillas, forget your families,” the child was told.
Together with two other children, he was sent to Iraq’s Gara region, where the PKK has a strong presence, and was able to flee the group during his time in Metina.
“We were staying in a cave in Zap and Metina. There, they gave us political and military training.”
He continued to say that the PKK severs the ties of its members and their families while also indoctrinating them that Turkey was their biggest enemy.
“They told us that Turkey is our biggest enemy. They were making propaganda so that members would not reach their families and their freedom,” he said, indicating that he was happy about his decision to leave the group and calling on others to lay down their arms and return as well.
Meanwhile, local sources told AA that the YPG recently recruited another 15-year-old boy in the city of Hassakeh, northeastern Syria.
On Jan. 26, YPG terrorists kidnapped Muhammed Azad Hasan, who was born in 2007 in Hassakeh, to recruit him in its "child fighter" squad, according to local sources.
The family of the boy has called for his release on social media.
The terror group kidnapped at least 19 children between Oct. 1 and Dec. 15 last year, according to a Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) report published on Dec. 16.
The terrorist group's recruitment and exploitation of children in the conflict-hit country has also been reflected United Nations reports.
On Jan. 16, 2020, the U.N. Human Rights Council shared findings that YPG/PKK terrorists are using children as fighters in Syria.
Though the PKK/YPG initially signed a pledge with Geneva Call – a Swiss humanitarian organization that works to "protect civilians in armed conflict" – to stop the use of child soldiers in 2014, its use of child soldiers has only increased since then.
Late last year, parents of children who were kidnapped by the YPG staged a protest in front of the U.N. headquarters in Qamishli, northeastern Syria. Around 30 people gathered to demand action after several children, reportedly girls, were forcefully recruited by the YPG terrorists, a group primarily backed by the United States under the guise of fighting against Daesh.
Since its foundation, the PKK has forcibly taken at least one child from families that fail to "pay taxes" in support of the group. To fill its ranks, the PKK has continuously raided villages and kidnapped young adults from the ages of 15 to 20 through violent means. In addition to forced conscription, the PKK also carries out propaganda campaigns that mainly target university students. The terrorist group's approach has remained largely consistent, according to statements by captured or surrendered members of the organization.
In its more than 40-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK – listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union – has been responsible for the deaths of 40,000 people, including women, children and infants.
To end the threats the terrorist group poses to Turkey and the atrocities on local people, Ankara has carried out several anti-terror operations while continuing to ensure the security of the people in northern Syria.
In just this past week, the Turkish military eliminated five terrorists from the YPG who opened fire and were attempting to infiltrate the area controlled by the military in northern Syria, the Defense Ministry said Saturday.
In a statement posted on Twitter, the ministry said the terrorists opened harassment fire on Turkish troops and tried to enter the Operation Peace Spring zone.
Turkey carried out Operation Peace Spring in 2019 against the YPG in northern Syria's Tal Abyad and Ras al-Ain regions to prevent a terror corridor from being created along its southern border, as well as to bring peace and stability to the region.
After the completion of the operation, Turkish officials focused on ensuring the security of the region and creating the necessary conditions for the return of civilians displaced by terrorism.
