A former soldier sentenced to jail in Turkey after fighting the murderous Islamic State terror group has skipped bail and returned to Britain.
Joe Robinson was sentenced to seven-and-a-half years in prison after being accused of fighting alongside the People’s Protection Units of Syrian Kurdistan (YPG) – which the Turkish state considers a terrorist organisation.
The 25-year-old was arrested during a family holiday to Turkey with his fiancee Mira Rojkan last year, and spent four months in prison before he was convicted.
He had been on bail in Kusadasi awaiting an appeal, but has now told the BBC he has returned to Britain secretly, without the permission of the courts, and said he did so because he had to take the matter into his own hands.
It is understood the British Government did not help Robinson return to the UK.
The YPG is not banned in the UK and Robinson, from Accrington, Lancashire, said he only spent a month with them in Syria while providing medical support to civilians.
Turkey considers the YPG to be a terror organisation because of its links to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party which is fighting for autonomy for the region.
But Robinson was unaware of their ideology when he spent a month in Syria with them in July 2015 during which he did not see conflict, his fiancee has previously said.
She said it was in the following three months in Iraq that he fought IS with the Peshmerga, the Iraqi Kurdish military.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article