|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
Türkü Avcı is a 27-year-old Turkish citizen who first came to Israel to study at Hebrew University in 2021. After October 7th, she began to post in defense of Israel on social media and that brought her to the attention of Turkish authorities.
In 2025, the Ankara government charged her with “Serial Aggravated Assault,” for allegedly insulting the country’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
According to the indictment:
The social media user operating under the name/username “Turku Avci @avciturku” had, on various occasions, made unfounded accusations against President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, posted content of an insulting nature directed at the President, praised the State of Israel while disparaging Turkey’s administration, and targeted the country’s unity and territorial integrity.
Avcı has filed a claim for asylum to Israel and recently spoke with the Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM) about her case and what her life is like in Israel.
How did you insult Erdoğan?
I didn’t. I criticized him when he said “May Allah destroy Israel” and I said this is not something a president of a country should say. I said it’s antisemitic. And we’re supposed to have freedom speech in Turkey. But if I went back right now to Turkey I would be arrested and who knows how much time I’d spend in jail before I got my day in court.
I hired a lawyer but then he was targeted, too. They labeled him as the lawyer who represents the “Zionist girl” and they made up all these conspiracy theories about him. He got scared and dropped my case. And then I understood that there’s no way I can defend myself in Turkey right now. No lawyer will be brave enough to take my case. Or even if they would take my cases, I don’t know if I can trust them fully.
How did this campaign against you start?
I was in Israel on October 7th, studying at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. When I first heard the sirens at six in the morning, I knew there’s something wrong and I started crying because I didn’t know what was going on. I was in the dorms and it was a holiday so there were only a few people in the dorms. And then I ran to my friends and we went to the shelter. The university is in East Jerusalem and our fear was that the other Arab groups were going to join Hamas and come for us. I came from a family that was not religious but this was the first time I prayed so hard.
And then my parents were terrified because they started seeing the videos. My mom was crying and then we heard we have one Turkish-Jewish friend and he was at the Nova festival and no one knew what was going on with him. He escaped after hiding for ten hours. I didn’t leave my room for 15 days and my roommate and I didn’t even open the curtains. We lived in the dark because we were so afraid, and I slept with a knife beside me.
I started following Turkish media coverage of October 7th and I knew what they were saying was not true. And it felt like I was being gaslighted because I was in Israel and I knew what I was going through and I knew what was going on. So I decided to say something and I created a social media page and I thought my voice would help clarify things because I’m Turkish, and I’m not Jewish.
Of course, I was expecting backlash and criticism. But after October 7th, Turkey became so radicalized and the comments on my page was filled with conspiracy theories about me, and threats against me and my family. I was afraid that when I returned to Turkey I might be physically attacked. And then I received the arrest warrant for insulting the president.
How did you wind up in Israel?
I am from Marmaris, in the southern part of Turkey, and my both parents are Muslim, but we’re secular. I’d met quite a lot Israelis and I was always questioning the Israel-Palestine conflict, because in Turkey you only get the pro-Palestinian side. I grew up in a leftist environment, but they also have an anti-Israel stance, and I never could see myself on that side because you wind up protesting in the streets alongside Islamists shouting “Allahu Akbar.”
During Covid, I’d read an article from a professor at Hebrew University. I’d always wanted to study politics, and then I started looking into Hebrew University, and I saw it was co-founded by Albert Einstein. They have great professors there and 15 Nobel Prize winners from the faculty and students. So, I thought there’s no better place than the Hebrew University to learn Hebrew and Arabic and launch my career.
How are you liking Israel?
The Israelis are amazing. Especially after my story went viral in Israel. Israelis reach out to invite me to come for Shabbat, come for a hug, they want to send me food. They’re amazing.
How long do you think you’ll be in Israel?
I will probably be here for a while. I’m in my last year of school and I want to be a researcher or journalist, and do public diplomacy because I want to normalize relations between Israel and Turkey. But because of my asylum status, I don’t have a work visa right now. I want to be more active on social media. Most of my content is in English and I want to start doing more in Turkish. It’s scary to do it in Turkish because I get attacked so much, it’s really overwhelming. But it’s important.
Some Turkish people message me privately to support what I’m doing. They support me because of what I say about Israel and because I’m speaking out about the law under which I’ve been indicted. So, they support me because it’s about freedom of speech.
Follow Avcı on Instagram: @avciturku
