RONÎDA HACÎ

Hasakah- On August 15, Türkiye and Iraq had a meeting in Ankara and signed a memorandum of understanding on military, security and counter-terrorism cooperation. On August 23, eight days after the meeting, A Turkish drone targeted a vehicle carrying journalists in the Said Sadiq district of Sulaymaniyah, killing two journalists, Gülistan Tara and Hêro Bahadîn.

The attack targeting journalists in Sulaymaniyah was one of the plans of the memorandum of understanding signed by Türkiye and Iraq, said journalist Mîdiya Ehmed, condemning the attack on the journalists.

“The Turkish state previously attacked journalists in Southern Kurdistan many times; journalist Nûjiyan Erhan was killed in one of the Turkish attacks in Southern Kurdistan. Every day, the Turkish state carries out attacks on the Medya Defense Areas and villages, killing civilians. Journalists are targeted by the Turkish state while trying to report the crimes committed by the Turkish state. The Turkish state, in collaboration with the KDP, targets journalists in Southern Kurdistan. Despite all the Turkish attacks, we will keep reporting its crimes with the ‘Jin, Jiyan, Azadi’ philosophy.”

‘Women journalists report the truth’

Pointing to the works of women journalists in North and East Syria, Mîdiya Ehmed said, “At the beginning of the revolution in Rojava, women journalists fought the patriarchal mindset and won. Now, they are the mirror of society while the Turkish state has intensified its attacks on North and East Syria, killing and displacing civilians. Women journalists make great efforts to make the truth heard all around the world. We commemorate our journalist colleagues, who were killed while reporting the truth. We commemorate martyr Dilîşan Îbiş. Today, the ‘Jin, Jiyan, Azadi’ philosophy has become a philosophy embraced by women demanding freedom all around the world thanks to women journalists.”

 ‘We condemn silence’

Any attack on women journalists is an attack on the “Jin, Jiyan, Azadi” philosophy, Mîdiya Ehmed noted, saying, “We condemn the silence of the Iraqi government against the attack on journalists. According to international conventions, any attack on journalists is a crime against humanity. The Iraqi government and international human rights organizations must break their silence. We vow to be the voice of the truth.”