Our boy was helping, say parents of British fighter held in Turkey
A BRITISH soldier arrested on holiday in Turkey for fighting Isil was only in Syria “to help people”, his parents claimed as they appealed for his release.
Joe Robinson, 24, from Accrington, Lancashire, was arrested on July 22 while on holiday in the town of Didim in south-west Turkey.
He was accused of “being a member of a terrorist organisation”, apparently in connection with time he spent in Syria fighting with the Kurdish militia in 2014, and was initially held alongside his girlfriend and her mother. They were released after six days, but Robinson remains in custody.
“I just want information,” his mother, Sharon, 48, told The Guardian. We don’t know if there’s a court date, how he is coping or what he’s actually being charged with.
“I had no idea about the situation in Turkey and I don’t think Joe did either, otherwise he wouldn’t have gone there on holiday.”
Robinson’s solicitor, Kaya Kayaoglu, who visited Robinson on Tuesday, told the BBC he was in jail in the town of Aydin, western Turkey. Robinson’s girlfriend, Mira Rojkan, 22, said: “We were still wet and in our towels when about 20 armed plain-clothed police surrounded us and took us inside the house we were staying in.
“They searched the house for more than an hour but found nothing except a water pistol we’d been messing around with the day before.
“It was just awful. They said someone had sent them an email saying we were terrorists about to do something in Turkey. That is complete rubbish. They said pictures on Facebook of Joe in Kurdish uniform proved he is a terrorist.”
♦isil fighters can no longer escape Syria to carry out attacks in Europe according to the US. Brett Mcgurk, special presidential envoy for the global coalition against Isil said: “Not too long ago, what they [Isil] would do is plan a terrorist attack in Raqqa, they would train a unit – kind of a terrorist combat unit – they would then infiltrate out… and go conduct an attack such as in Paris or in the Brussels airport. They cannot do that anymore.”