Two Vice News journalists arrested by Turkish authorities and charged with terror offences are set to be deported from the country, but their local fixer remains in custody.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office released a statement on Thursday afternoon saying the two British journalists had been transferred to a deportation centre.

It read: “Two British journalists arrested in Diyarbakır on 27 August have now been transferred to a Migration Department Deportation Centre in Adana. Our consular officials in Turkey are liaising with the Turkish authorities and in contact with the journalists and their lawyer.”

Earlier on Thursday the lawyer representing the trio, Ahmet Ay, told the Guardian that correspondent Jake Hanrahan and cameraman Philip Pendlebury were free to leave the country, though the charges against them have not been dropped.

Their Turkey-based assistant Mohammed Ismael Rasool, was still being questioned, but is expected “to be freed as well soon”, said Ay.

The three journalists were arrested along with their driver in the south-eastern Turkish province of Diyarbakır last Thursday.

They were reporting on the conflict between the country’s government and the youth wing of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). The driver was subsequently released without charge.

They were later charged by a Turkish court with “aiding a terrorist organisation” and moved to a high security prison on Wednesday.

A Vice News spokesperson said: “Vice News has received confirmation from the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office that two of our journalists, Jake Hanrahan and Philip Pendlebury, have been released from a Turkish prison.

“While we are grateful that they have been freed, we are deeply worried by reports that our other Vice News colleague, Mohammed Ismael Rasool, has had his appeal of release rejected by the Turkish government. Rasool is an experienced journalist and translator who has worked extensively across the Middle East with Vice News, Associated Press and Al-Jazeera.”

“We call on the Turkish authorities for a swift end to this unjust detainment and to grant his immediate release.”

Their release comes just a day after the UK government issued a statement expressing concern over the arrests and reminding Turkey of its “obligations” under human rights law.

The strongly worded statement from the FCO said: “Respect for freedom of expression and the right of media to operate without restriction are fundamental in any democratic society. Turkey is a state party to the European Convention on Human Rights and UN Declaration of Human Rights. We would expect the Turkish authorities to uphold the obligations enshrined in those agreements.”