“I haven’t seen my daughter since she left. I haven’t seen her for more than 30 years. We thought she was dead. She has been away from home for so many years,” Geyik Oran told Rudaw in her home in the Kurdish province of Dersim (Tunceli), southeast Turkey.
Hozat was born in Dersim the same year the PKK was founded. In 1994, she joined the group and in 2013 was elected co-chair of the KCK, an umbrella organization that includes the PKK.
On Friday, she was one of 30 PKK members who held a ceremonial disarmament in Sulaimani province, burning their weapons before heading back to their hideouts. The decision to lay down weapons was made following a call earlier this year by jailed leader Abdullah Ocalan for the PKK to pursue politics instead of armed conflict.
“I hope she will be free and come so I can see her. I am always praying. I wish what is happening is true, but I still cannot believe it,” Oran said. “I will sacrifice seven animals as long as I can see my daughter.”
Oran is 92 years old and called for peace in 2013 when Hozat took the KCK leadership position.
On Friday, Hozat told AFP that the PKK wants to “go to Turkey and engage in politics” provided Ankara “takes concrete steps, enacts laws, and implements radical legal reforms.”
The PKK, established in 1978, initially sought Kurdish independence before shifting its focus to securing political and cultural rights for Kurds in Turkey. It is designated as a terrorist organization by Ankara and its Western allies.
Ali Haydar Gozlu contributed to this report.
