Kurdish journalist Deniz Firat lost her life as a result of an ISIS attack on Maxmur Refugee Camp in southern Kurdistan (northern Iraq).

When ISIS attacked the camp on 6 August 2014, Deniz stayed with her camera and phone with the fighters defending Maxmur against the Islamists. She was reporting from the front lines by phone for the last time when she was hit by a shell fragment on 8 August. 

Residents of the Maxmur Camp organised a commemoration event to pay tribute to the fallen journalist on the ninth anniversary of her martyrdom.

An exhibition was opened at the part where the commemoration took place and photos of Musa Anter, Gurbeteli Ersöz and Deniz Fırat, as well as Martyr Hindistan, Martyr Süleyman, Martyr Evin Buldan and Martyr Evindar Cudi were displayed.

Speaking here, journalist Jiyan Piran said: “We bow before the work and resistance of our precursors, of Deniz Firat and her likes. We will follow in the footsteps of our fallen colleagues.”

The brother of Deniz Firat, Cuma Yıldıztan, also addressed the crowd and said: “I am not a brother but a companion of hers. Deniz took the migratory path at a young age. She was a part of the resistance in the mountains of Kurdistan for 22 years and she finally worked for the press. In 2014, she resisted to the very end to document what the people of Kurdistan went through at the hands of ISIS in cooperation with the KDP and the Turkish state. She fought the enemy with her camera or her weapon when necessary, and never submitted.”

Journalist Deniz Firat (Methiye Yildiztan) came from the province of Van in North Kurdistan and lived with her family in Maxmur refugee camp in South Kurdistan. In August 2014, ISIS attacked Maxmur as well as the Yazidi settlement area of Shengal and other places. The camp had to be evacuated. Deniz Firat reported on site for ANF and the Kurdish TV stations Stêrk TV and Ronahî TV. She fell a martyr on 8 August.