Rotterdam woman and her baby detained in Turkish cell
A 31-year-old woman from Rotterdam was arrested with her 5-month-old baby in Istanbul on Friday. The woman and baby are currently detained in a prison in the Turkish capital. She is suspected of belonging to a terrorist organization, RTL Nieuws reports.
The woman was co-chairman of the Kurdish organization DemNed, the Council of Communities from Kurdistan in the Netherlands, from 2015 to 2016. According to the Turkish authorities, this organization is affiliated with the Kurdish PKK.
The Rotterdam woman is receiving assistance from a Dutch and Turkish lawyer, and consular assistance from the Dutch embassy in Turkey, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. The Ministry is also in contact with the woman's family in the Netherlands. The woman and her child are doing well under the circumstances, according to RTL.
Her family does not understand why she was arrested. She visited Turkey at least four times after 2016 and wasn't arrested during any of those visits. The woman was on a trip with some family members and was arrested at the airport on Friday when she was about to return to the Netherlands, the family said to RTL Nieuws. They are worried about the baby, who has an infection. According to the family, the guards are not allowing any medicines to the child.
