The Free Press Association (YRA) made a statement regarding the kidnapping of journalist Süleyman Ahmet in front of the Mihemed Şexo Culture and Art Center in the city of Qamishlo, with the participation of many journalists.

The statement was read by YRA Board members Canê Xemgîn and Evin Ibrahim.

The statement said that Süleyman Ahmet, who started as a journalist in his hometown, Afrin, with the start of the Rojava-Northern and Eastern Syria Revolution, made the voice of the revolution heard by people with his pen and camera.

The statement added that Süleyman Ahmet's family migrated from the Jindirêsê district to Aleppo following the attacks by the Turkish state and its gangs on Afrin (20 January 2018), and that he moved to the city of Sulaymaniyah in South Kurdistan, where he continued his work at Rojnews.

'South Kurdistan government is responsible'

The YRA underlined that journalist Süleyman Ahmet passed from the KDP-controlled region and Semalka border gate to the Northern and Eastern Syria region officially and that there was no document problem there. However, there was no contact with Süleyman, who returned from Rojava via the same route to South Kurdistan on 25 October, since he crossed the border.

Stating that “the government of South Kurdistan is responsible for the situation of Süleyman Ahmet”, the YRA called on journalists from South Kurdistan and institutions and organizations that protect journalist rights, especially the International Union of Journalists, Reporters Without Borders and the Committee to Protect Journalists to act.