Aussie woman is arrested on terror charges moments before boarding flight from Europe to Melbourne

EXCLUSIVE

An Australian woman has been arrested on terror charges and jailed by Turkish security forces as she prepared to board a flight home to Melbourne.

Daily Mail Australia can reveal the country's elite intelligence agency swooped on Çiğdem Aslan in Istanbul Airport on Saturday in a joint operation with local police.

The 40-year-old had been under surveillance by Turkiye's National Intelligence Organisation (MIT) over alleged links with 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 as a proscribed terrorist organisation in countries around the globe, including the US, UK, EU and Australia.

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.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade confirmed to Daily Mail Australia on Monday that Australian consular officials were aware of Ms Aslan's arrest.

'The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is providing consular assistance to an Australian woman detained in Türkiye,' a spokesperson said.

'Owing 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 well-being, provision of lists of local lawyers and assistance communicating with family members or nominated contacts.

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 Aslan was understood to have been waiting for her flight back to Australia when members of Istanbul's police department captured her at the airport.

Her LinkedIn profile says she currently works 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 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.

The PKK has been operational for 40 years and its activities have been blamed by Turkish authorities for the death of 40,000 people, local media reports .

Australia officially views the PKK as a 'ideologically-motivated violent extremist organisation', according to a 2012 report by the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security.

'Founded in 1978, the PKK is founded on a combination of Kurdish nationalism and Marxist-Leninist ideals,' the report found.

'Most attacks appear to be very specifically targeted, for example, armed assaults against Turkish military forces using small-arms fire.

'However, there also have been several indiscriminate, mass-casualty attacks employing both suicide bombings and vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices.'

Prior to Ms Aslan's arrest only one other Australian had been charged for their 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.

From its own founding documents the PKK has expressly stated its intention of gaining political power by attacking the government, security forces and rivals.

'The Kurdistan Workers' Party aims to monopolise Kurdish political power, including by attacking the interests of rival political parties,' it states.

'However, the Kurdistan Workers' Party primarily conducts attacks against the Turkish government and security forces.'

Daily Mail Australia has reached out to Kurdish groups in Australia for comment.