The arrest in Sarandë of 32-year-old Turkish woman Julide Yazici has brought renewed attention to an old case from Turkey, in which she is listed as convicted for participation in a terrorist organization. However, the details emerging from the case are linked to a student protest for Kurdish rights in Istanbul, with no reports of anyone being injured.
What is alleged in the file
According to the Turkish authorities’ version, Julide Yazici is linked to the PKK/KCK and was part of a student youth group. On that basis, she is listed as having been sentenced to prison for participation in a terrorist organization.
The file mentions developments linked to 2016, after demonstrations in Istanbul, when a search was carried out at the 32-year-old’s rented home and six batteries and four boxes were found.
Fingerprints on protest materials
Another element included in the file concerns the search of a vehicle that, according to the authorities, had brought materials used in the demonstration in Istanbul. There, according to the documents, Julide Yazici’s fingerprints were identified.
From the data made public so far, it does not appear that there were any injured people at that protest. It has been described as a student demonstration for Kurdish rights, which makes the way the case was handled criminally even more sensitive.
Trial in absentia and asylum in France
Other students were tried along with Yazici. The 32-year-old, meanwhile, was convicted in absentia after she had left for France, where she later received political asylum.
This element raises further questions about the clash between the criminal treatment of the case in Turkey and the status she was granted in a European Union country.
Arrest in Albania and legal representation
Julide Yazici was arrested in Sarandë, while it appears she had also been on holiday in Albania last year. No public information has been released on why her movements had not prompted earlier intervention by the authorities.
In the proceedings, she is represented by two lawyers, Artan Shllaku and Turkish lawyer Vedat Ajakac. The case is also expected to be examined in light of the documents accompanying the request against her and the weight given to the facts in the 2016 file.
The case raises a sensitive issue that goes beyond a routine arrest: the line between terrorism accusations and involvement in political protests in a charged climate such as Turkey’s after 2016.
For the moment, the facts publicly known remain those in the case file and the political asylum status the 32-year-old received in France.