Rotterdam woman, baby flees Turkey to avoid Kurdish propaganda charge

A Dutch woman decided to flee Turkey instead of awaiting her trial on a propaganda charge after she spent months in a Turkish cell with her baby. In a statement through her Dutch lawyer, the woman said that after her experiences in the country over the past months, she no longer has faith that she will get a free trial, NOS reports.

"I therefore made the difficult decision to flee, and am now reunited in the Netherlands with my friends and family", the woman said. Her daughter is also back in the Netherlands. The statement did not make clear how she managed to get out of Turkey. She also did not say whether she fled with her baby or whether the girl came back to the Netherlands before she fled.

The 31-year-old woman from Rotterdam was arrested with her five-month-old daughter at the airport in Istanbul in April. The Turkish authorities suspect her of belonging to the PKK and making propaganda for this terrorist organization. In Rotterdam she was a member of the Kurdish organization Demned. The woman was released from custody in July, but ordered not to leave the country. Her trial will continue in Istanbul on Thursday.

At least 14 Dutch people are currently detained in Turkey or not allowed to leave the country due to an ongoing trial against them, according to NOS. SP city councilor in Eindhoven Murat Memis was also arrested in Turkey on suspicion of making propaganda for the PKK, after he posted about Kurds on social media. He was acquitted in July and allowed to leave Turkey, after political pressure.