Turkey releases French journalist Loup Bureau detained on Iraqi border

French President Emmanuel Macron last month expressed his concerns about Loup Bureau’s detention in a telephone call with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan.

Turkey on Friday released French journalist Loup Bureau who was seized by security forces on the Iraqi border last month, his lawyer said on Friday.

This file photo taken on August 24, 2017 shows people attending a rally in support of French journalism student Loup Bureau, who was detained in Turkey for the past month, in front of Paris' 4th district hall.(AFP)

Bureau was detained by Turkish border guards in early August after he was found to have photographs and interviews with Kurdish militia fighters among his possessions.

“We are pleased to announce the release of journalist #LoupBureau. He will be expelled from Turkey shortly,” lawyer Martin Pradel said via Twitter.

French President Emmanuel Macron last month expressed his concerns about Bureau’s detention in a telephone call with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan. The announcement came as French Foreign Affairs Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian concluded a two-day visit to Turkey.

Turkey considers the Kurdish YPG militia, with which Bureau is accused of having links, to be an extension of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militant group.

The PKK has fought a three-decade insurgency in southeast Turkey and is designated a terrorist organisation by Ankara, the United States and the European Union.

Bureau’s lawyer said a Turkish court had not closed the case.

“We must continue to fight,” Pradel said in another tweet.