ANKARA (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 14th August, 2018) Turkish authorities arrested Seda Dudurkaeva, a daughter of former head of the Chechen Republic's Federal Migration Service Asu Dudurkaev, who was married to a senior figure of the Islamic State (IS) terrorist group, outlawed in Russia, as they found she possessed a Ukrainian passport, presumably fake, Seda's lawyer Atanur Demir told Sputnik.
Dudurkaeva was detained on July 4 along with four other IS-linked suspects. According to media reports, she was the wife of IS commander Abu Omar Shishani, whose original name is Tarkhan Batirashvili, who is said to have been killed in Iraq in 2016.
"Dudurkaeva was arrested but the investigation into her IS membership was not launched. The fact is that she has recently received the Ukrainian citizenship. And when there was a discussion about her IS membership, the prosecutor suspected that her Ukrainian passport was fake. This was the reason for her arrest, but not links to IS," Demir said.
According to the lawyer, Dudurkaeva had managed to leave Syria for Turkey, she then traveled to Ukraine, received citizenship and returned to Turkey.
"She did not go to Chechnya, because after Syria, it was difficult for her to explain what she had done there and it was difficult to communicate with her father, who was dismissed because of her," Demir added.
Turkish prosecutors are gathering evidence of her IS membership, however, no accusations in this regard have been put forward, the lawyer continued.
"If serious evidence is found, then the case will be transferred to the court. If not, then she will be released ... The charges should be announced approximately in September or October. As her lawyer, I will demand Seda's release from prison for the duration of the investigation," Demir said.
Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov fired Durdurkaev from the republic's ministerial post in November 2013 after Seda's links to the terrorist group had become publicly known.
