An Australian citizen accused of fighting with a terror group overseas says he’s not a soldier and didn’t fire a gun.

Renas Lelikan, 40, faced trial in the NSW Supreme Court today accused of travelling to the border of Turkey and Iraq in 2012.

There he allegedly fought with Kurdistan Workers’ Party, known as the PKK, against the Turkish Government.

Renas Lelikan is accused of fighting with the Kurdistan Workers' Party in 2012. (AAP)

The jury was shown photographs taken during that period.

“Can I suggest what he is doing there is loading bullets in a curved magazine which is used in a Kalashnikov AK47,” Crown Prosecutor Paul McGuire SC told the court.

“You can also see the accused carrying a hand grenade.”

PKK is considered a terror group in Australia and Lelikan admitted he was a member. (9news)

He also detailed emails Lelikan allegedly sent in which he referred to Turkish planes bombing his surrounds and how it made him angry.

“Once we got ambushed by the enemy, after a battle lasting 12 hours we were able to get out of the circle without any loss” he allegedly wrote.

In 1999, before he left Sydney, Lelikan set himself alight at a Town Hall protest which left him with burns to 80 percent of his body.

Mr McGuire said that showed the depths of his support for the Kurdish plight.

Renas Lelikan's defence argued he is not a soldier, he is a writer, journalist and social commentator. (AAP)

The PKK is considered a terror group in Australia and Lelikan has admitted he was a member but he has denied fighting with them.

The jury was told an issue would be whether he was in the region as a journalist or correspondent.

“Renas Lelikan the accused is not a soldier…He is a thinker, he’s a writer, he has been a journalist and a social commentator” barrister Phillip Boulten SC said.

“He has written extensively about his own experiences and he has chronicled the struggle of the Kurdish people.”