When mutual friends pair Betül from Ankara with Muhammed from Izmir, she immediately knows that this is the love of her life. He is a soldier, she is a lawyer and there is an immediate connection. The year is 2016, and as their love blossoms, the world around them changes. That summer, an alleged coup took place in Turkey, which was quickly put down. Muhammed is fired and arrested, and their planned wedding cannot take place.
It is in prison, an eight-hour bus ride from Betül, that they see each other for the last time on Turkish soil. After that, letters keep their love alive. They write to each other two folders full of them. Meanwhile, the lawyer receives intimidating visits from agents. People give her unsolicited advice: that she should break off her engagement. "I wasn't planning on that."
Betül decides to flee to the Netherlands, where her uncles live. She writes about her plan to Muhammed in secret language. It is a dark period, she says: having to leave her motherland and Muhammed behind, trying to build a new life in a foreign country. 'The only thing I knew for sure is that I didn't want to be a lawyer anymore. Then you are only concerned with problems. Moreover, I have lost my confidence in the rule of law in Turkey.'

Great guide

With support from the UAF, she is completing the transition year at The Hague University of Applied Sciences. 'My supervisor, Afra, was a great guide. Together we practiced for the NT2 tests and she showed the way to a workable plan B.' Betül took a chemistry course and is now studying Nutrition & Dietetics at a higher professional education level. 'Healthy food has always been a passion of mine.'
Fortunately, Muhammed and Betül can make the switch to Plan B together. Between two trials, Muhammed sees an opportunity to flee Turkey. On June 6, 2019, the lovers will fall into each other's arms again at Schiphol. Six weeks later they celebrate their wedding, a marriage that is not yet official almost five years later. The Turkish government refuses to send Betül's birth certificate. Their families also suffer from other minor and major bullying. A return is therefore not an option. 'Half the neighborhood goes to Turkey on holiday in the summer, but we can never go back. That hurts,” says Betül.