A “reserved” teenager is feared to have travelled to northern Iraq to fight against ISIS.
Silhan Ozcelik, 17, from Haringey, left the UK in late October. Friends and family fear she intends to fight with Kurdish forces against Islamic State.
Arman Banirad, head of the Kurdish Community Association in Haringey, described Ms Ozcelik as “reserved” and “withdrawn”.
He said: “I suspect she was more or less feeling the same way as the majority of the Kurdish community in London. She was feeling a bit impotent, not being able to do much. It’s very hard.
“I’ve had people phoning me up from around the region and saying, ‘I can’t do what you do with your pen, I can only fight.’ They want to do something. The pen is more powerful than the Kalashnikov but some people don’t have options.
“I’m surprised Silhan has gone, but I know that a lot of us feel compelled to do something. If it turns out that this is really what’s she’s done, that she’s gone to fight ISIS, then I really can’t say if more teenagers will follow her example or not.”
Mr Banirad said he was not familiar with Ms Ozcelik’s family, and had seen them at the centre once or twice but had not spoken to them.
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