Nov 17, 2016

Prague is a favorite honeymoon destination for Turkish newlyweds, and the Czech Republic is generally idealized in Turkey as a mecca of beautiful women and febrile intellectuals, all sipping the country’s famous brews. It must have therefore come as something of a shock for many Turks to read the headline news today that two “Czech terrorists” had been arrested in the predominantly Kurdish town of Sirnak, in southeastern Turkey.

The pair, identified as Miroslav Farkas and Marketa Vselichova, are allegedly members of the Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), the United States’ top ally in the fight against the Islamic State (IS) in Syria. The YPG is also closely linked to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which is fighting for Kurdish autonomy in Turkey. Turkey considers both groups terrorist organizations and is infuriated by the YPG's cooperation with Washington.

The Daily Sabah reported that Farkas was alleged to be a sniper, described Vselichova as a female and said they were responsible for “coordinating the arrival of new volunteer terrorists from Europe to Syria.” Meanwhile, Takvim ran a photograph of the buxom Vselichova being whisked away by masked Turkish special forces. The Czechs were supposedly detained as they tried to illegally cross into Turkey from Syria. They allegedly confessed under interrogation that they had been “trained” by “German special forces and in the French Foreign Legion.”

The Czech Foreign Ministry presented a somewhat different version of events. Spokeswoman Michaela Lagronova confirmed that Turkish authorities had found material linking Farka and Vselichova to the YPG, but she said they had been arrested Oct. 13 in Sirnak while trying to cross the border into Iraq. This makes more sense, as Sirnak borders Iraq, not Syria.

The amicable relationship between Czechs and the YPG is no secret. Prague was one of the first European capitals in which the YPG opened a representation office, earlier this year.