Friends of a Yukon woman imprisoned in Turkey are taking to social media to raise awareness about her case.

According to the Facebook page “Charman Smith: Help to Get Her Back to Canada From Turkish Prison”, Smith is a 38-year-old Carcross-Tagish First Nation woman who is currently in prison in Instanbul.

Those who know Smith say they’re particularly concerned, as she suffers from chronic diseases that could potentially become fatal in her current situation.

Smith was arrested, the page claims, after she was “deceived into unknowingly transporting drugs from Turkey, ” and that she has had “little or no help from anyone in Canada.”

A post on the Facebook page dated Dec. 12 says Smith is now working with a lawyer in Turkey adding “It’s step by step but all positive.”

Smith’s supporters have also set up a YouCaring fund to raise money toward her legal fees and aftercare.

Organizers of the page could not be reached for comment before this afternoon’s press deadline.

Yukon MP Larry Bagnell told the Star he has been involved in the case for more than a year, making sure the Canadian consulate in Turkey is in contact with Smith and monitoring her health.

“They’ve confirmed that they are meeting with her regularly and doing everything they can to make sure she is treated well,” Bagnell said. “They’re doing the maximum that they can do for her.”

He added he is committed to ensuring that continues.

Brianne Maxwell is a spokesperson for Global Affairs Canada. She confirmed that officials at the Consulate General of Canada in Istanbul are providing assistance to a Canadian citizen who has been detained and to the person’s family.

But she said no further details on the case are being released due to privacy reasons.

Bagnell noted while it would be nice for Smith to serve her sentence in Canada, there is no bilateral treaty with Turkey that would facilitate her transfer.

The Correctional Service of Canada notes that these transfer agreements help alleviate hardships for Canadians incarcerated abroad.

Its website states there are more than 1,700 Canadian citizens incarcerated internationally at any given time.

And it notes they can face unique challenges, including isolation, culture shock, language barriers and a lack of programs for foreigners.

“Without the benefit of transfers, offenders are deported at the end of their sentence to their country of citizenship, often after having spent years in confinement and being totally unprepared for a safe, secure and successful reintegration into society,” the site says.

And a webpage for the federal government highlights that there are several things that Canadian officials can do for citizens who are arrested and detained abroad.

These include maintaining regular access, notifying family and friends, advocating for fair and equal treatment, and undertaking clemency intervention in cases where a crime is punishable by death.

They cannot, however, intervene in ongoing legal proceedings except in rare cases at the request of local authorities.

According to the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction, there were 73,017 drug law offences in Turkey in 2015. The top five drugs seized were herbal cannabis, heroin, cannabis resin, amphetamines and cocaine.

And a report for the think tank the Brookings Institution based in Washington D.C. says “drug trafficking in Turkey is extensive and has persisted for decades.”

The report is titled “Amped in Ankara: Drug trade and drug policy in Turkey from the 1950s through today”, and was compiled by Mahmut Cengiz. It details the growth of drug trafficking groups in the country since the 1970s.

It explains this is due to Turkey’s location as a bridge between supply countries and the West through the Balkans and civil wars in Iraq and Syria, which reshaped drug smuggling routes in the Middle East.