Murad Karayilan, commander of the PKK’s armed wing and its affiliates, is seeking to make up for the loss of armed fighters following repeated PKK defeats in decades-old strategic locations in northern Iraq that killed many PKK members. Following the PKK’s call, its members tried hard and eventually abducted about a dozen underage girls, even 11 and 12, and forced them to praise Abdullah Ocalan and to chant slogans in front of PKK cameras in the Qandil Mountains.
Ekim Alptekin, a civil activist, referred to the call on his Twitter page, saying, “After the call of the terrorist leader, they recruited young children. They expose children to brainwashing and then subject them to rape.”
Criticizing the US government, he said: “Barack Obama’s remnants today are emphasizing on arming and financing the PKK in Syria.”
Many experts in the region believe that raping, especially young girls, is common in the PKK, and even Mehmet Shener, one of the PKK’s founding members, was killed for revealing Abdullah Ocalan’s harem. Duoran Kalkan, an Azeri-speaking member of the PKK leadership council, is known to have a harem in Qandil, and various photos of his have been posted online.
