Dutch mum rescues daughter from Islamic State in Syria.

Monique told Dutch TV two months ago about her daughter's radicalisation

A Dutch mother has arrived with her daughter in Turkey, after a hazardous journey to Syria to bring her back from the Islamic State stronghold of Raqqa.

The mother, Monique, had first gone to Turkey in October, months after her daughter Aicha had travelled to Syria to marry a Dutch-Turkish Islamist.
The mother and daughter are being held on the Turkish border and hope to go home soon.
Hundreds of European Islamists have gone to Syria to fight with IS.
Aicha, 19, is one of a number of teenage girls and young women who have made the journey to join IS. Two Austrians, aged 15 and 17, went to Syria in April and one was reported killed.
Aicha left the Netherlands in February, marrying Omar Yilmaz, a Dutch-Turkish jihadist who had once been in the Dutch military.

Omar Yilmaz has used skills learned in the Dutch army to train fellow Islamist fighters

Monique told Dutch TV in September that her daughter had changed within a short period from an enthusiastic Dutch teenager to a radical Muslim, who was in social media contact with Omar Yilmaz and ultimately fell in love with him.
"She saw him as a sort of Robin Hood," her mother said.
After the police were warned of her plans to travel to Syria, Aicha's passport was seized but she used her identity card instead.

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Anna Holligan reports on Dutch jihadists in Syria

Yilmaz told the BBC's Anna Holligan on Wednesday that he had married the Dutch teenager after another fighter she was due to marry was killed in fighting, but they later broke up. "It didn't work, we split. She went her way, I went my way," he said.
Monique travelled to Turkey in October in an attempt to bring her daughter home but failed to cross the border.
Last week, after a plea for help from her daughter, she went back, against the advice of police, travelling to Raqqa, the seat of Islamic State's so-called caliphate. She found her daughter and brought her back to Turkey. Yilmaz referred to her in a tweet as his ex-wife.

Aicha and her mother are currently being held on the Turkish border, waiting for permission to return home to the Netherlands.
The Dutch government has told the BBC it is in touch with her mother but officials have refused to go into details about the case. Part of the problem is that Aicha has no passport, reports say, although her lawyer believes the pair could be home within a week.
It is unclear what will happen to the teenager on her return but Dutch experts say it is likely she will be questioned about whether she has carried out or witnessed any crimes.

 

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