EXCLUSIVE
An Australian woman has been arrested on terrorism charges and jailed by Turkish forces. security forces as he prepared to board a flight home to Melbourne.
Daily Mail Australia can reveal that the country’s elite intelligence agency targeted Çiğdem Aslan at Istanbul airport on Saturday in a joint operation with local police.
The 40-year-old man had been under surveillance by Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization (MIT) for alleged links to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK.
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 organisation in countries around the world, including the United States, the United Kingdom, the EU and Australia.
Ms Aslan is alleged to have been one of the leaders of an Australian terrorist cell associated with her and linked to the PKK and its work in the country.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade confirmed to the Daily Mail Australia on Monday that Australian consular officials were aware of Ms Aslan’s arrest.
Çiğdem Aslan was detained by Turkish forces at Istanbul airport on Saturday, local media reported. She was recently cited as co-chair of the Kurdish Democratic Society Federation.
Ms Aslan was preparing to board her flight from Istanbul to Melbourne when she was arrested.
‘“The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is providing consular assistance to an Australian woman detained in Türkiye,” a spokesperson said.
‘Due to our privacy obligations we are unable to provide further comment.’
Consular assistance may include visits to prisons to monitor welfare, liaison with local authorities regarding the Australian’s welfare, provision of lists of local lawyers and assistance in communicating with family members or designated contacts.
Ms. Aslan’s arrest came amid widespread raid in the capital of the Mediterranean country carried out by MIT, the Istanbul Police Department and the Anti-Terror Division of the Istanbul Police Department.
She is believed to have been actively involved in actions and events carried out on behalf of the PKK in Australia and had been under surveillance by MIT for some time.
He is now in prison in Türkiye awaiting his trial date.
Ms Aslan is understood to have been waiting for her flight back to Australia when members of the Istanbul police department seized her at the airport.
Her LinkedIn profile says she currently works as a part-time community health educator at the Multicultural Centre for Women’s Health in Melbourne.
She was recently quoted as co-chair of the Federation of Kurdish Democratic Society 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, she organised a seminar entitled Kurdistan: Past, Present and Future in Pascoe Vale, Melbourne, which featured a number of speakers discussing human rights in Kurdistan.
The PKK has been operational for 40 years and Turkish authorities have blamed its activities for the deaths of 40,000 people. local media reports.
Australia officially considers the PKK an “ideologically motivated violent extremist organisation,” according to a 2012 report by the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security.
“The PKK, founded in 1978, is based on a combination of Kurdish nationalism and Marxist-Leninist ideals,” the report said.
‘Most of the attacks appear to have very specific targets, for example armed attacks against Turkish military forces using small arms.
‘However, there have also been several indiscriminate attacks, causing numerous casualties, involving both suicide bombings and vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices.’
Before Ms Aslan’s arrest, only one other Australian had been charged for association with the terrorist group.
Renas Lelikan pleaded guilty to being a member of the PKK and was sentenced to a three-year community corrections order by the NSW Supreme Court in 2019.
Ms Aslan is alleged to have been one of the leaders of an Australian-associated terrorist cell that has been linked to the PKK and its work within the country.
Ms Aslan is believed to have been waiting for her flight back to Australia when members of the Istanbul police department seized her at the airport.
His arrest was part of a wide-ranging raid conducted by MIT, the Istanbul Police Department and the Istanbul Police Department’s Anti-Terror Division.
From its very founding documents, the PKK has expressly declared its intention to gain political power by attacking the government, security forces and its rivals.
“The Kurdistan Workers’ Party aims to monopolise Kurdish political power, even by attacking the interests of rival political parties,” he said.
“However, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party mainly carries out attacks against the Turkish government and security forces.”
Daily Mail Australia has contacted Kurdish groups in Australia for comment.
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