Woman 'sells baby for £300' in Istanbul airport

CCTV footage shows a woman allegedly trying to sell her child to a couple

CCTV image showing a Turkish woman with a hold-all authorities say had a baby in it

A woman has been arrested on suspicion of trying to sell her baby in an Istanbul airport for £300.

The woman, identified as Dinara A by Turkish police, was seen arriving at the airport on CCTV with a woman believed to be her mother on 14 September. Dinara was carrying a hold-all which authorities said contained her baby inside.

Police allege she had agreed to sell her child to a Turkish-born German couple for 1000 Turkish Lira - approximately £300.

The CCTV footage shows Dinara walking into the toilet with the hold-all and then exiting the toilet without it. Moments after, the Turkish-born German woman leaves the toilet and can be seen with the same holdall.

Turkish authorities say the woman then realises she cannot take the infant through passport control without the correct documentation, and then contacts officers claiming to have found an abandoned baby in the toilets.

Dinara, her mother and the child have since been deported. The woman attempting to buy the child gave her statement and was released a short while afterwards.