Friends of Australian nurse arrested on terrorism charges and jailed by Turks Security forces fear she may be tortured while in custody.
Mother-of-two Çiğdem Aslan was arrested at Istanbul airport last week in a joint operation with local police as she prepared to board a flight back to Melbourne.
On Monday, friends of the detained woman came out to defend her beloved mother, who was instead described as a hard-working “human rights activist.”
Daily Mail Australia revealed last week that the 51-year-old had been under surveillance by the Turkiye National Intelligence Organization for alleged links to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
But close friend Sue Bolton said Aslan was just an active member of Victoria’s Democratic Kurdish Community Centre, dedicated to helping the local Kurdish community.
He said Aslan was passionate about ending oppression and discrimination against Kurds, but insisted the mother-of-two had nothing to do with terrorism.
“The allegations by the Turkish authorities are false,” he told Daily Mail Australia on Monday.
‘Cigdem is a human rights activist, not a terrorist.
“I think other countries use anti-terrorism laws as a way to silence dissent and I think the Turkish government is one of those countries that does that.”
Bolton, a councilor for Melbourne’s northwest, said she feared Turkish authorities had shut down her friend’s social media platforms since her arrest.
Çiğdem Aslan was arrested at Istanbul Turkiye Airport last week
Çiğdem Aslan was arrested by Turkish forces at Istanbul airport last week. She was recently cited as co-president of the Kurdish Democratic Society Federation.
“I definitely had a presence on Facebook,” he said. “This was a purely family and personal visit for Cigdem.”
Bolton said Aslan was suffering from a serious health problem that needed constant care.
“The Turkish authorities have allowed him to take some medications, but not all, so he definitely has some health problems,” he said.
‘I don’t know if she is being tortured or not; The last I heard was that she is detained (but) has not been charged.
“I think because they’ve made up these accusations, they’re now trying to sew her up so they can charge her.”
Mrs. Aslan’s two adult daughters remain largely unaware of what is happening to their mother.
“They’re nervous about talking to the media, but they’re distraught about what happened to their mother,” Bolton said.
While Ms Aslan has been given access to a lawyer, she has been banned from contacting the Australian Embassy, Ms Bolton said.
The PKK has been fighting since the 1970s for Kurdish sovereignty within Turkiye – formerly known as Turkey – and was founded with the intention of creating an independent Kurdish state.
The group has been designated a proscribed terrorist organization in countries around the world, including the United States, the United Kingdom, the EU and Australia.
Ms Aslan was preparing to board her flight from Istanbul to Melbourne when she was arrested.
It is alleged that Mrs Aslan was one of the ringleaders of an associated Australian terrorist cell that has been linked to the PKK and its work within the country.
Additionally, it can be revealed that Ms Aslan is an experienced nurse who worked for six years as a drug and alcohol nurse at St Vincent’s Hospital in Melbourne, after arriving in Australia as a Kurdish refugee 25 years ago.
EM Bolton claimed her friend of more than a decade had traveled to Turkiye to visit friends and family before being arrested as she prepared to fly home.
He stated that Ms Aslan is passionate about helping Kurds in her homeland, particularly after devastating earthquakes devastated it last year.
“Basically (the PKK’s status) means that charity work, even if it has nothing to do with these organisations, is basically illegal,” Ms Bolton said.
Bolton said Aslan had an Australian passport and had previously traveled to Turkiye without incident.
‘She probably felt safe. “She’s been there before and nothing has happened,” he said.
“She is aware that there are other people detained and apparently Kurds who are loosely related to the Kurdish movement have been detained at the airport.”
An Australian was sitting aboard a plane when he was arrested, Bolton said.
“I assume this is deliberate as they often let people on the plane so they can embarrass them in front of a whole plane full of people,” he added.
‘It’s not just people who are activists. “These are people who are simply Kurdish and attended some strange thing.”
Ms Aslan is alleged to have been one of the ringleaders of an associated Australian terrorist cell that has been linked to the PKK and its work within the country.
Mrs. Aslan’s arrest came amidst widespread raid in the capital of the Mediterranean country carried out by MIT, the Istanbul Police Department and the Anti-Terrorism Division of the Istanbul Police Department.
She is alleged to have actively participated in actions and events carried out on behalf of the PKK in Australia and had been monitored by MIT for some time.
He is now in prison in Turkiye awaiting his trial date.
Bolton said it was vital that Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong intervened before Aslan was charged.
“Now is the time to act to try to free Cigdem,” he said.
Brusk Aeiveri, co-president of the Federation of Kurdish Democratic Society of Australia, told Daily Mail Australia that the allegations against Aslan were false.
“She went to visit her family and as she was leaving Türkiye for Australia she was captured by the Turkish intelligence service,” he said.
“They claimed that she was a member of the PKK, which is shocking to many of us, but is normal in Turkiye.
‘They label any Kurd as a supporter or member of the PKK, because for them it is an easy way to imprison people.
And that accusation is false. It is absolutely false. There is no way she is a member of the PKK.
“He is a dear person, with a sense of humor, who does a lot of community work, human rights and defends the rights of the Kurds.”
Aeiveri stated that anyone who defended Kurdish rights and participated in cultural and social activities was considered a terrorist in Turkiye.
“They are trying to criminalize all Kurdish communities across Australia with that label because they know that unfortunately the PKK has been listed in Australia as a terrorist organisation,” he said.
‘And that gives them an excuse to arrest people and put them in jail.
“Our organization is legally registered here and we have parliamentarians and political representatives who attend our programs that are open, not only for Kurds, but different ethnicities also attend our programs.”
It emerged that Aslan was waiting for her flight back to Australia when members of the Istanbul Police Department captured her at the airport.
His arrest was part of a widespread raid conducted by MIT, the Istanbul Police Department, and the Istanbul Police Department’s Anti-Terrorism Section.
Aeiveri said Aslan would experience extreme hardship behind bars awaiting justice.
“He needs some medications and he needs more clothes, he has a health problem,” he said.
‘This is one of the things that worries us, because the conditions of the prison cells in Turkiye are horrible. And they don’t give prisoners access to medication.
“He needs medication, continuous medication.”
Aeiveri accused Turkiye of trying to create “panic” among Kurdish communities.
“In Turkiye there is no justice and there are no rules to defend someone,” he said.
You know, there are just display cases. This doesn’t matter, you can have the best lawyers or you are innocent, as long as the governments want to say that you know you are a terrorist, they make you a terrorist in everyone’s eyes.
“Turkey is considered a democratic society or democracy, but in reality it is a dictatorship at the moment.”
Mrs. Aslan The LinkedIn profile indicated that she was currently working as a part-time community health educator at the Multicultural Center for Women’s Health in Melbourne.
She was recently cited as co-chair of the Kurdish Democratic Society Federation in a 2022 article on the Australian Green Left activist website, praising a Senate candidate for supporting the “Kurdish people’s struggle for self-determination.”
She also previously spoke on behalf of the Kurdistan Women’s League of Victoria.
In December, he hosted a seminar titled Kurdistan: Past, Present and Future in Melbourne’s Pascoe Vale, which featured a series of speakers discussing human rights in Kurdistan.