Turkey Detains Australian Women Allegedly Related To PKK Branded Terrorist

JAKARTA - Turkish authorities detained an Australian woman at Istanbul Airport last week for allegedly having ties to the banned Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).

Cigdemek was arrested at the airport on September 15 as he prepared to board a flight to Australia, sources were quoted as saying by Reuters on Tuesday, September 24.

After his arrest, Cigdem appeared in Istanbul court on September 18 and was detained pending trial.

He faces charges of involvement in the PKK propaganda in Australia and participation in events organized by groups allied with the militant organization.

Australia said it provided assistance to a woman in Turkey but gave no further details.

The PKK, designated a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States, and the European Union, started a separatist uprising against the Turkish state in 1984.

Since then, this group has softened its goal of fighting for larger Kurdish rights and limited autonomy in southeastern Turkey, mostly inhabited by Kurdish tribes.

More than 40,000 people have died in the conflict that is now focused in northern Iraq.