The family of a Kurdish teenager from London who is feared to have travelled to Syria to fight against Islamic State today spoke of their distress at her disappearance.
Police say Silhan Ozcelik, 17, from Islington, left St Pancras International station on the Eurostar on October 27 and travelled to Belgium.
Friends believe she may have been making her way to Syria, becoming the first known British female fighter to join the battle against Islamic State. One said she rang her family to say “forget me” after boarding the train.
Officers are trying to establish if she is planning to join the Kurdish YPJ — or Women’s Defence Units — or help humanitarian efforts in war-torn Kobane. Her older brother, who did not want to be named, said his sister wanted to be a human rights worker.
He said: “Our mother has a heart condition and is very stressed and worried about all this. It is a very distressing time. My sister has not been in contact and we want to be sure she is okay. We are convinced that she has run away with a boy. In our culture, it is very difficult for young people to be boyfriend and girlfriend. She has hinted to us that she has a boyfriend, asking us what our reaction would be. We went to the police because we are concerned about her, but not because we think she has gone to fight Isis.
“If you knew my sister, you would laugh at the idea that she had gone to fight. It is just not what she would so. She is intelligent and wants to help people through human rights.”
A 21-year-old man suspected of travelling with Silhan on the Eurostar was arrested by police in Hackney on Wednesday on suspicion of assisting another person to commit acts of terrorism by helping them travel abroad. He was later released on bail.
