Syria/Türkiye | Ahmet Polad: Extradited to Turkey

Posters from an initiative calling for the release of journalist Ahmet Polad, who was captured by the Islamic fundamentalist HTS government in Syria, hang on a railway underpass in Hamburg's Schanzenstrasse. Photo: IMAGO/Hanno Bode The Kurdish journalist Ahmed Polad was imprisoned in Syria for eight months after he was abducted by militia members of the Syrian interim government along with his German colleague Eva Maria Michelmann in the northern Syrian city of Al-Raqqa on January 18, 2026. Last week he was extradited to the Turkish authorities, who immediately imprisoned him again. According to the Kurdish news agency ANF News, he was taken to Metris Prison in Istanbul and previously appeared before a judge.

His father was informed about the extradition so that the two were able to see each other briefly. On this occasion, Ahmet Polad reported about eight months of torture in Syrian detention and that he had been on hunger strike for five months. According to the supporters' initiative "Freedom for Eva and Ahmet", it was clear from the brief encounter that Polad was extremely emaciated and exhausted as a result of the mistreatment and the long hunger strike. She announced that she would continue to work to ensure that those responsible are held accountable.

»Ahmet Polad needs immediate medical attention in a hospital. We are extremely concerned about his life and health," says a press release from the supporters' initiative. The Turkish government must “urgently” ensure Ahmet Polad’s medical treatment and “immediately release” him. From now on, the Turkish government will be responsible for Polad's health and life.

Polad and Michelmann were kidnapped together on January 18 while doing their journalistic work in Al-Raqqa and were kept largely isolated from the outside world for months. Relatives, lawyers and independent doctors were not given free access, writes the Kurdish Center for Public Relations Civaka Azad. It was only an international mobilization campaign that got the Syrian transitional government to even admit to their detention.

Eva Maria Michelmann was released on June 19th after five months of captivity and returned to Germany. Ahmet Polad, whose real name is Mehmet Nizam Aslan and who has Turkish citizenship, remained in custody. He worked for the television station Özgür TV and the news portal Kurdistana Azad. With agencies

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