“They were beaten and humiliated, they were treated appallingly”: the entanglement of the young people in Turkey

Holly Cooper and her partner Taylor Johnson, two young British men in their 20s, are facing a possible sentence of up to 30 years in prison in Turkey after they were caught with two suitcases full of cannabis at the airport.

According to the report, the two were arrested upon landing at a field in Istanbul after arriving on a connecting flight from Thailand. Relatives of Taylor claimed that he was attacked by local security personnel and that the treatment of him and Holly was “shocking and humiliating”. Friends of the couple started a crowdfunding campaign for legal expenses. “Their families are shattered, it’s a trauma for them,” said one of their relatives. “They are good children who were apparently taken advantage of by criminal elements, and now they are alone in the Turkish prison.”

If the two are convicted, their expected sentence in Turkey ranges from 10 to 30 years in prison. At this stage, they are represented by the public defender’s office, and a date has not yet been set for the start of the two’s trial, which may only begin in about a year. The British Foreign Office clarified that it provides assistance to its two citizens detained in Turkey and their families.