The Central Executive Board of Kurdish PEN released a statement concerning Friday’s Turkish drone attack in Rojava. The attack on a car in Tirbespiyê killed a member of the autonomous administration's security forces and seriously injured two other people. The identity of the dead man was given as Dirar Cuma Hemze. One of those injured is the well-known poet Ferhad Merdê.

The statement pointed out that Turkey’s aim was to destroy the existence and status of the Kurds, saying, “We believe that Ferhad Merdê was targeted not coincidentally, but deliberately.”

Stressing that the policy of ignoring the Kurds will fail, Kurdish PEN called on the international community and relevant authorities to stop these brutal attacks by the Turkish state.