Mothers of ill political prisoners who came to the Turkish capital Ankara on Tuesday were stopped by the police as they tried to walk to the Ministry of Justice to deliver a call for an end to the ill-treatment of prisoners and to demand justice for their children.

The mothers, coming from the Kurdish-majority provinces of Van (Wan), Diyarbakır (Amed), Şırnak (Sirnex), Batman (Êlih), Mardin (Mêrdin), Yüksekova (Gever), Siirt (Sêrt) as well as Adana and İstanbul, were in Ankara to hold a series of meetings, and most importantly to have their voices heard as they made an important call.

The group first visited the Turkish parliament in the morning and then attended the weekly group meeting of the pro-Kurdish People’s Democratic Party (HDP).

The party’s co-chair Pervin Buldan greeted the mothers and sent salutations to all mothers and families fighting for justice. She said:

“We have been witnesses to the great struggle for justice and truth by Emine Şenyaşar, by the families in Çorlu, Soma and Roboski, by the Saturday Mothers and the Peace Mothers in solidarity with different groups of society against the shameless policies that intend to smother the country in the darkness of injustice. This struggle for truth will continue until it achieves its goals. Here we salute all mothers once again with love and respect and declare that we are on their side.”

Later, the mothers were stopped by the police as they were walking to the justice ministry after leaving the parliament.

One of the mothers, Necla Kocaman, who came from the city of Adana, made an address calling for the urgent release of all ill prisoners.

“Why are our children who are fighting against death not released?” she asked.

“We want justice. Enough, don’t test the mothers any more. We have had enough. We want our children alive. We don’t want coffins coming out of the prisons. We don’t want the Leylas and Aysels of this world to die. We want justice. We the mothers expect the justice minister and the interior minister to give us a reply.”

The mothers were insulted and forced to disperse by the police. They then walked to the headquarters of HDP to continue with their visit to the Human Rights Organisation (İHD) of Turkey.