Aust woman in Turkey on terror charges awaiting trial

An Australian woman charged with terrorism related offences in Ankara after trying to board a plane home is awaiting trial, according to Turkish media.

The detention of Cigdem Aslan, 51, came after a joint Turkish police and National Intelligence Organisation investigation, the state-run Anadolu news agency said.

The Melbourne resident is accused of being actively involved in the Australian arm of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK.

She was brought before a Turkish court and sent to prison to await trial, Anadolu reported on Tuesday citing unnamed security sources.

It is alleged Aslan was in contact with high-level members of the listed terrorist group and had been monitored "for a long time" before she was arrested at Istanbul Airport.

She held an Australian passport under the name of Lenna Aslan, another Turkish outlet, the Daily Sabah, reported.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade was providing consular assistance to the woman in Turkey, a spokesman said.

"Owing to our privacy obligations we are unable to provide further comment," he said.

The Kurdistan Workers' Party, which is committed to the creation of an independent Kurdish state in southeastern Turkey, Syria and Iraq, is a banned terrorist organisation in Turkey, Australia, the United States and European Union.

The group, which the Australian government has described as an ideologically motivated violent extremist organisation, has been locked in a decades-long conflict with Turkey, resulting in more than 40,000 people killed.

Turkish media allege Aslan served as co-chair of an Australian PKK-linked association and was involved in rallies in Australia to protest Turkey's operations against the group.

She is listed as a bilingual health educator at the Multicultural Centre for Women's Health in Melbourne.

Her biography on the centre's website states she came to Australia as a Kurdish migrant from Turkey 25 years ago, has worked as a registered nurse and is passionate about human and women rights, community volunteering and advocating for minorities.

In 2019, the NSW Supreme Court sentenced Australian man Renas Lelikan to a three-year community corrections order after he pleaded guilty to being a member of the PKK.