Mark Buddle’s ex Mel Ter Wisscha detained in Turkey on visa issues

Mark Buddle’s former partner Mel Ter Wisscha has spent three days in an Istanbul immigration centre after more than a dozen police stopped her as she left a seaside town resort.

The former partner of exiled bikie boss Mark Buddle has been detained in Turkey on visa issues, 16 days after he was also banged up in the same country.

Mel Ter Wisscha has spent the past three days behind bars in an immigration detention centre outside Istanbul, after a team of more than a dozen police stopped her last Friday as she left a resort in the seaside town of Bodrum where she had been staying.

The Daily Telegraph understands that she has been told she was apprehended because of her links to Buddle, who himself has been in a Turkish prison awaiting deportation since being swept away from his hideaway in Northern Cyprus on July 9 in a secret mission with the help of Interpol.

Ms Ter Wisscha has been living in the posh suburb of Bitez, about four kilometres east of Bodrum. Bitez is a wealthy, residential enclave dotted with luxury villas and its own popular beaches.

After being questioned by local police, Ms Ter Wisscha was taken to a detention centre in south-western Turkey.

Mel Ter Wisscha, the ex-partner of former Comanchero Bikie boss Mark Buddle, has been detained in Turkey.

A source close to Ms Ter Wisscha confirmed she had not seen Buddle for close to a year, that their relationship was over and that she was “very upset” at being in limbo in the detention centre.

“She was leaving a hotel in Bodrum and about 15 police pulled her over and began going through all her stuff, and checking passports,” they said.

“They made her sign something in Turkish, even though she couldn’t understand it, but she’s not under arrest - she kept asking them ‘am I under arrest’ and they said no.

“Basically they’ve said to her that she’s a risk because of her husband. She told them they aren’t together and haven’t seen each other in a year, but they took her to a police station and then to an immigration centre.

“She’s very upset and very confused. She doesn’t understand why (she’s been detained), she hasn’t done anything wrong, she hasn’t been arrested and she’s obviously upset that she’s away from her family and kids.”

The centre, which is secured by armed guards around the perimeter, is gender segregated and holds adult men and women, children and disabled people and has a capacity for 88 detainees.

Mel Ter Wisscha by the water at the D.Maris Bay Resort in Turkey.

Senior government sources confirmed on Monday night that they were aware of Ms Ter Wisscha being detained by Turkish authorities.

Official sources said she was detained because she was deemed to be a foreigner who was inconvenient for public order or security.

It is understood the mother-of-two has been joined by her family in Turkey who have been using visits of 15 minutes a day to support her and to drop off fresh clothes.

Ms Ter Wisscha’s ex-partner Buddle is understood to still be in a prison in Ankara. It’s understood he has bought into a number of petrol stations in Girne and another on the motorway to Nicosia.

Buddle and Ter Wisscha share two daughters. Picture: Supplied

A former Sydney girl, Ms Ter Wisscha spoke to the Telegraph last week via social media saying she had not seen Buddle for over a year.

“I haven’t seen Mark for a year. He’s the father of my children. They see him, I don’t,” Ms Ter Wisscha said.

“I haven’t left Turkey. My kids have gone to and from (Northern Cyprus) but I have stayed away.”

While Ms Ter Wisscha is not accused of any criminal wrongdoing, the Turkish government has been open about its efforts in recent times to remove unwelcome overseas figures, including crime and underworld identities, from their country.

Buddle is believed to have married another woman, Ozge, in North Cyprus, although Australian authorities have been trying to ascertain whether it was just another ruse by Buddle for immigration purposes..

He was arrested at gunpoint in North Cyprus just over two weeks ago, where he has been living for the past year and is believed to have been paying local authorities to let him stay there.

That was until mainland police decided on a secret mission to get Buddle off the island and onto the mainland.

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