A north London teenager has become the first Briton convicted for trying to join the banned Kurdish group PKK.
Silhan Ozcelik, 18, was found guilty of engaging in conduct in preparation for terrorist acts after leaving letters and a video for her family telling them she was going to fight with the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and then fleeing the country.
In the letter, she wrote: "Believe me this is the right thing for me to do. I am so happy right now that I have become a militant."
And the 25-minute video, recorded in Turkish said her struggle was “not just for the Kurdish people”, but for all people and for all women.
Ozcelik had followed events in Kobani, in Syria, during Islamic State massacres the court heard.
She said: "The only people defending them over there was the YPG, the PKK. It was amazing, the fact that they were there and they were trying to protect innocent people - I just admired it."
The teenager, of Highbury Quadrant, Highbury, had dropped out of college and four months later, travelled to Brussels via Eurostar on a one-way ticket.
She was arrested in January at Stansted airport after getting off a flight from Germany.
But Ozcelik claimed she had lied to her family and she had gone to see a man who she had formed a romantic attachment to in Brussels.
Giving evidence, she denied that she had joined PKK saying she had lied about the real reason for her trip because going off with a boy was "really shameful in our community".
She told the court: “In the Kurdish community, if you say I'm joining the PKK, everyone will look up to you, they'll respect you. If you say you're going off with a boy, the situation changes.”
While abroad, Ozcelik visited Holland and Germany with a 28-year-old man called Mehmet, who she wanted a relationship with, the court heard.
She told the court she initially "felt like an adult", but then ended up cooking and cleaning and felt oppressed, much like she was in London.
The court also heard the teenager had a long standing interest in the PKK and made a collage of its leaders, Kurdish and Turkish socialists and Che Guevara as a school project.
Rejecting a plea for a suspended sentenced, Judge John Bevan QC sentenced Ozcelik to 21 months in prison.
He said: “You are stupid, feckless and deeply dishonest young woman. You have lied to your family and this jury.”
Asked if she regretted her actions, Ozcelik said: "Yeah I regret everything - it's caused trouble for my family and everyone else."
Commander Richard Walton, head of the Met's Counter Terrorism Command (SO15), said: "We continue to remain concerned about the number of young women and girls being drawn into all forms of terrorism.
"We urge parents and families to talk to us at the earliest opportunity if they have concerns about any girl or women being enticed into supporting terrorist groups like the PKK or Isil."
Additional reporting by Press Association.
