Friends of an Australian nurse arrested on terror charges and jailed by Turkish 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 home to Melbourne.
On Monday, friends of the detained woman came forward to defend the beloved mother, who was instead described as a hard-working ‘human rights activist’
Daily Mail Australia revealed last week the 51-year old had been under surveillance by Turkiye’s National Intelligence Organisation over alleged links with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK.
But close friend Sue Bolton said Ms Aslan was just an active member of the Kurdish Democratic Community Centre of Victoria, dedicated to helping the local Kurdish community.
She said Ms Aslan was passionate about ending the oppression and discrimination against Kurds – but insisted the mum-of two had nothing to to do with terrorism.
‘The allegations from Turkish authorities are false,’ she told Daily Mail Australia on Monday.
‘Cigdem is a human rights activist, she’s not a terrorist.
‘I think other countries use anti-terror laws as a way of silencing dissent and I think the Turkish government is one of those countries that does that.’
Ms Bolton, a councillor in Melbourne’s north-west, said she feared her friend’s social media platforms had been closed down by Turkish authorities since her arrest.
Çiğdem Aslan was arrested at Turkiye’s Istanbul Airport last week
Çiğdem Aslan was arrested by Turkish forces in Istanbul Airport last week. She was recently quoted as co-chair of the Federation of Kurdish Democratic Society
‘She definitely had a Facebook presence,’ she said. ‘This was purely a family, personal visit for Cigdem.’
Ms Bolton said Ms Aslan suffered from a serious health issue, which needed constant care.
‘The Turkish authorities have allowed her to have some medication, but not all of it so she definitely does have some health problems,’ she said.
‘I don’t know if she’s being tortured or not – the last I heard was that she’s in detention [but] she hasn’t been charged.
‘I think because they’ve made up these allegations – they’re trying to now stitch her up so they can charge her.’
Ms Aslan’s two adult daughters remain largely in the dark about what is happening to their mother.
‘They are nervous about speaking to the media, but they’re distraught about what’s happened to their mum,’ Ms Bolton said.
While Ms Aslan has been given access to a lawyer, she has been forbidden from contacting the Australian Embassy, Ms Bolton claimed.
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 as a proscribed terrorist organisation in countries around the globe, including the US, UK, EU and Australia.
Ms Aslan was preparing to board her flight from Istanbul to Melbourne when she was arrested
It is alleged that Ms Aslan was one of the ringleaders in an associated Australian terrorist cell which has been linked to the PKK and its work within the country.
It can further be revealed 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 coming to Australia as a Kurdish refugee 25 years ago.
Ms Bolton claimed her friend of more than a decade had travelled to Turkiye to visit friends and family before she was arrested as she prepared to fly home.
She claimed Ms Aslan has been passionate about helping Kurds in her homeland, particularly after devastating earthquakes ravished 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.
Ms Bolton said Ms Aslan had an Australian passport and had travelled to Turkiye previously without incident.
‘She probably felt safe. She’s been there before and nothing has happened,’ she said.
‘She’s aware of other people being detained and apparently the Kurds who are loosely connected to the Kurdish movement have been detained at the airport.’
One Australian had been seated on board a plane when he was arrested, Ms Bolton said.
‘I gather this is a deliberate thing where often they let people get on the plane so that they can embarrass them in front of a whole plane load of people,’ she added.
‘It’s not just people who are activists. It’s people who are just simply Kurdish and attended the odd thing.’
It is alleged that Ms Aslan was one of the ring leaders in an associated Australian terrorist cell which has been linked to the PKK and its work within the country
Ms Aslan’s arrest came amid sweeping raid across the Mediterranean country’s capital conducted by MIT, the Istanbul Police Department and the Istanbul Police Department’s Counter-Terrorism Branch.
She was alleged to have actively participated in actions and events carried out on behalf of PKK within Australia and had been monitored by MIT for some time.
She is now in prison in Turkiye awaiting her trial date.
Ms Bolton said it was vital Australia’s minister for Foreign Affairs Penny Wong intervened before Ms Aslan was charged.
‘Now is the time that we need to act to try and free Cigdem,’ she said.
Brusk Aeiveri, co-chair of the Federation of Democratic Kurdish Society Australia, told Daily Mail Australia the claims against Ms Aslan were false.
‘She went to visit family and as she was departing from Turkey to Australia she got captured by the intelligence service of Turkey,’ he said.
‘They alleged she was as a member of PKK, which is shocking for many of us, but it’s normal in Turkiye
‘They label any Kurds as a supporter or member of PKK, because that’s an easy way for them to put people in jail.
‘And that accusation is false. Absolutely it’s false. There’s no way she can be a member of the PKK.
‘She’s a cherished person with a sense of humour, doing a lot of community work, human rights, and advocating for Kurdish rights.’
Mr Aeiveri claimed anyone who advocated for Kurdish rights and participated in cultural and social activities was regarded a terrorist in Turkiye.
‘They try to criminalise all Kurdish communities across Australia with that label because they know the PKK has been listed in Australia as a terrorist organisation unfortunately,’ he said.
‘And that gives them an excuse to arrest people and put them in jail.
‘Our organisation is legally registered here and we have MPs and the political representatives attending our programs which are open, not only for the Kurds, but we have different ethnicities attending our programs.’
Ms Aslan was understood to have been waiting for her flight back to Australia when members of Istanbul’s police department captured her in the airport
Her arrest was part of a sweeping raid conducted by MIT, the Istanbul Police Department and the Istanbul Police Department’s Counter-Terrorism Branch
Mr Aeiveri said Ms Aslan would experience extreme hardships behind bars awaiting justice.
‘She needs some medications, and she needs more clothing, she has a health problem,’ he said.
‘This is one of the things that worries us, because the condition of prison cells in Turkiye is horrible. And they’re not giving prisoners access to medications.
‘She needs medication, ongoing medications.’
Mr Aeiveri accused Turkiye of trying to create ‘panic’ among Kurdish communities.
‘In Turkiye there’s no justice and there’s no sort of rules for defending someone,’ he said.
‘You know, only there’s showcases. This doesn’t matter, you can have the best lawyers or you’re innocent, as long as the governments want to say, you know you are a terrorist, they make you become a terrorist in everybody’s eyes.
‘Turkey’s labeled as a democratic society or democracy, but in fact, it’s actually a dictatorship at the moment.’
Ms Aslan’s LinkedIn profile stated she currently worked as a part-time community health educator with 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 ‘Kurdish people’s struggle for self-determination’.
She has also previously spoken on behalf of the Kurdistan Women’s League of Victoria.
In December, she organised a seminar entitled Kurdistan: Past, Present and Future in Melbourne’s Pascoe Vale, which featured a series of speakers discussing human rights in Kurdistan.
***
Read more at DailyMail.co.uk