Aussie woman arrested in Turkiye on terror charges

A Melbourne woman has been arrested in Turkiye over allegations she was a member of the Australian arm of a banned Kurdish nationalist group accused of carrying out deadly terrorist attacks.

Turkiye’s state-run Anadlou news agency reported 40-year-old Cigdem Aslan, also known as Lenna Aslan, was arrested at Istanbul Airport last week while preparing to board a flight to Melbourne.

Ms Aslan was alleged to have had actively participated in activities of the Australian branch of the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, and had contact with high-level members of the nationalist group.

She was reportedly arrested as part of a joint operation by Turkiye’s powerful spy agency, the National Intelligence Organisation (MIT), which had been following Ms Aslan “for a long time”.

The PKK was founded in 1978 by Abdullah Ocalan, who is imprisoned in Turkiye, with the goal of greater autonomy for Kurds who are considered the world’s largest stateless group.

The Turkish government alleges the group was responsible for the deaths of more than 40,000 people over decades of guerrilla war, including suicide bombings during the early-2000s.

For its part, the Australian government describes the PKK terrorist group aa “an ideologically motivated violent extremist organisation” that did not pose direct threats to Australian interests.

The Multicultural Centre for Women’s Health in Melbourne lists Ms Aslan as a bilingual health educator who “came to Australia 25 years ago as a Kurdish migrant from Turkey”.

“Cigdem has worked in Australia as a registered nurse in different healthcare settings, including as a drug and alcohol nurse at St Vincent’s Hospital for six years,” the centre said.

“She is a single mother of two daughters and has a passion for human and women’s rights, community volunteering and advocating for minorities.”

In a statement, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said it was providing consular assistance to an Australian woman detained in Turkiye.

“Owing to our privacy obligations, we are unable to provide further comment,” a spokesperson said.