RONAHÎ NÛDA

Qamishlo- Journalists Gulistan Tara and Hêro Bahadîn were killed in a Turkish drone attack in the Said Sadiq district of Sulaymaniyah on August 23. “Gulistan Tara worked as a journalist for 24 years,” Nalîn Dîcle, a colleague of Gulistan Tara, said in an interview with NuJINHA.

 ‘The attack took place during the process of alliance among Iraq, the Turkish state and the KDP’

The attack killing journalists Gülistan Tara and Hêro Bahadîn took place during the process of alliance among Iraq, the Turkish state and the KDP, said Nalîn Dîcle. “Why were journalists targeted in such a process? This is an important question. Our two colleagues were attacked on their way to make their programs. An alliance has been formed among Iraq, the Turkish state and the KDP and the attack took place during this process.”

‘They aim to destroy the gains achieved by the Kurdish people’

Any attack against journalists is not an ordinary incident,” Nalîn Dîcle said, adding, “This attack is as part of a nasty alliance against the Kurdish people and their gains. In this process, the laws of war have been violated in the Medya Defense Areas. There is an invasion plan for Southern Kurdistan suffering from an economic crisis. The Turkish state has already had an alliance with the KDP but now the Iraqi government is also a member of this alliance. They aim to include Iran and Syria to this alliance. Their main aim is to form an anti-Kurdish front. The Turkish state aims to destroy four parts of Kurdistan by including these states in the alliance in order to destroy the gains achieved by the Kurdish people. The attacks on journalists are also a part of this process. This alliance poses a threat to the status of Southern Kurdistan.”

The Turkish state attacks journalists to cover up its crimes’

The Turkish state attacks, arrests and kills journalists to cover up its crimes, Nalîn Dîcle stressed. “Whenever the Turkish state plans attacks, the first thing it does is cover up its crimes by arresting and killing journalists. The free press has an important and long tradition of struggle. That’s why journalists are targeted by the Turkish state. The role of journalists in exposing betrayers in Kurdistan and defeating them.”

‘Gulistan Tara made the problems faced by women heard’

Speaking about her colleagues, Gulistan Tara, Nalîn Dîcle said, “Gulistan Tara visited villages to make the problems faced by women heard all around the world. She wrote many articles and produced many programs. She made great efforts to report on the attacks in Medya Defense Areas, the political, social, economic and military plans of the Turkish state in Southern Kurdistan. Like many journalists, she made great efforts to expose the betrayal of the Barzani family. Hêro Bahadîn, a woman from Southern Kurdistan who witnessed many attacks by the occupiers, also worked as a journalist under difficult conditions. The attack against two women journalists shows the fear against the free press.”

 Nalîn Dîcle first met Gulistan Tara in 2004. “Gulistan Tara was also one of those who lost many colleagues in this struggle but she never gave up and struggled more. I learned many techniques from her, such as the use of a keyboard, writing articles, taking images and photos. Gulistan Tara made great efforts for journalism in Rojava Kurdistan and the foundation of JIN TV. She had many students. Today, her students are knowledgeable about many subjects. She had a very sensitive soul; she was a good person and colleague. She loved people and nature, especially flowers. She was also good at using the keyboard, she could spend hours writing an article. She was also a camerawoman and photographer. She worked as a journalist for 24 years and as her colleagues, we will maintain her 24-year struggle.”