Mother’s Day is a happy time to strengthen bonds for many parents and children. For others who have overcome difficulties, it is an occasion to remember their enduring love.

Some mothers long for children taken away from them by the PKK terrorist group while others reflect on the happy times spent with children they may not be blood-related to but are bound to by mutual love.

For foster mothers, it is a time to revive the unexpected bond established with their children despite sharing no biological ties. Adopting children as part of a project pioneered by first lady Emine Erdoğan to encourage the practice of fostering has been the best decision they ever made, say the foster mothers.

Thirty-two-year-old Yasemin Kavazoğlu is among them. The foster mother who lives in the central province of Kayseri yearned to have a child for six years before she decided to adopt a boy two years ago. "I have been to many doctors for (reproductive treatment) for years and they told me I wouldn’t bear children. Then, we adopted Melikşah, while he was only 15-days-old. Six months later, I became pregnant and now have a daughter. But still, I first felt like a mother when I met Melikşah," she told the Sabah newspaper on the occasion of Mother’s Day. "You can be a mother without giving birth to a child," she says.

"I was feeling wrecked before I met him and after adopting him, my mental state returned to normal. I have my biological child now but Melikşah’s place is different in my heart. I am glad to have him in my life," she added. "Mother’s Day did not mean anything to me but it feels amazing now to have two kids who will celebrate it with me."

For mothers of disabled children, Mother’s Day is an emotional but proud occasion and a time where their devotion is celebrated by others. Mevlüde Kelleci is among them. The 40-year-old mother of four living in the central province of Sivas dedicates most of her time to caring for her three children with autism and physical disabilities. "They are everything to me. I can’t bear to see them crying. I spend all my time with them because their happiness makes me happy too," she told Anadolu Agency (AA).

She passes her days caring for 13-year-old Melih and his 4-year-old twin sisters Ceren and Ceylin. "They attend special education classes but I don’t want to leave them without their mother. I want to be with them all the time so they don't hurt themselves," she said. "I am so happy to mark Mother’s Day with them. I always believed that this is a test by God and God knows I can do it. I had a hard time accepting their condition at first but I overcame it. I gave up my life for them because I cannot leave them alone. Even going out without them makes me unhappy," she says.

Nurülhüda Kulabaş is another mother who devoted her life to her son who suffers from cerebral palsy. Eren is now 34 but Kulabaş never gave up on trying to give him a good life. Eren’s childhood was marked with difficulties and nowadays, he is occupied with physical therapy and rehabilitation programs. Every week, the mother accompanies her son to swimming classes where the young man, who cannot walk properly, now manages to swim on his own. "I have always been with him. He graduated from high school but could not find a job," she says. "Our days pass by swimming classes and physical therapy. I don’t do anything else. I never leave him alone. I am so glad that he can swim though he cannot walk," she says.

Kulabaş said she never stopped helping her son. "I devoted my life to him and I call upon other mothers with children like Eren not to give up the struggle."

Sahile Gümüş, a mother of four mentally disabled children, one of whom also has cancer, does not complain. "I see other people going out for holidays with their children and I am here with them but I never stopped loving or caring for them," the 67-year-old mother who lives in the western province of Aydın told AA. "The presence of my children is a source of life for me. I stand strong and will care for them until the end of my life. The state offered to take them to a care home but I refused. I will die if I live separate from them," she says.

Not all mothers are ready to devote their lives to their children. Gizem Karaduman’s mother abandoned the family when she was 5 years old. The 21-year-old woman is now cared for by her aunt Cemile Atik in the western province of Yalova. Atik, a mother of two sons, longed for a daughter and was delighted when her brother's wife gave birth to Gizem. She was devastated when her niece was diagnosed with autism at the age of 3 and her mother left her two years later. Her brother was unable to care for Gizem by himself and when Atik found out that Gizem was going to be taken to a care home, she decided to care for her niece herself.

Gizem has a severe form of autism and is fully dependent on Atik, who for years has cared for her like a newborn baby, dressing and feeding her. "She changed my life," Atik told AA. "I am so happy to have her. I took her everywhere and she is accustomed to me. My brother wanted to give her up to a care home but I opposed it. We argued, had quarrels and I did everything to have her in my custody," she recalls. "I will care for her as long as I am alive," she says.

Diyarbakır Mothers

Not all mothers are lucky enough to have their children with them on Mother’s Day. In Turkey’s southeast, mothers whose children were kidnapped and brainwashed into joining the PKK terrorist organization have been waiting for years to reunite with them.

They are a diverse group, hailing from almost all provinces across Turkey but the mothers are collectively known as the "Diyarbakır Mothers" after they launched a sit-in strike in the eponymous southeastern province, outside the headquarters of a political party they accuse of aiding the terrorist group.

Since August 2019, they have continued their sit-in strike in Diyarbakır with their numbers growing over time. Despite this being the third Mother’s Day spent protesting the PKK, the mothers are determined and have not abandoned hope of getting their children back. Inspired by Hacire Akar, who reunited with her son Mehmet after staging the first protest, the resolute group, also joined by fathers, now numbers 285.

Their protest bore fruit over three years, with 35 families managing to get their children back. Most had seen the well-publicized protest and fled the terrorist group.

Necibe Çifçi hopes to join the families reunited with their children as she marks another Mother’s Day. Her son Rojhat was kidnapped by the terrorist group and forced into their ranks when he was 16. Clinching her son’s photo at the protest site in Diyarbakır, she says it is a bitter occasion for her. Çifçi told AA that Rojhat used to give her flowers and other presents every Mother’s Day before he was taken away. Appealing to her son once again, she said: "It is enough. Please come back. I want you to give flowers to me, so it will be a happy Mother’s Day for me again."

Ayten Elhaman spent five Mother’s Day without her son Bayram. She remembers the good old days by looking at a pair of shoes Bayram bought for her. "I want another gift from him now and that is his return. I want him to remember a poem he wrote for me when he was a kid. He wrote he would always love me and give me presents," she says.