A Turkish UCAV targeted a vehicle travelling in Sulaymaniyah city of southern Kurdistan (northern Iraq) yesterday (23 August), killing journalists Gulistan Tara and Hêro Bahadîn.

Media workers and journalists attending the press conference held by the Women's Press Union (YRJ) in Qamishlo spoke to ANF about the attack and called on relevant institutions and organisations defending the right to journalism to take action.

‘They target those women who have tasted freedom’

Lîlav Hesen said, “Women who unite around the slogan ‘Jin, Jiyan, Azadî’ [Woman, Life, Freedom] are directly targeted by hegemonic states. They see women's cries for freedom as a threat to their own interests, so they target women in social, economic, health, cultural and media organisations who have tasted freedom. Targeting women journalists is not a first. A year before the day Gulistan Tara and Hêro Bahadîn were murdered, a vehicle of JIN TV had been targeted, leaving JIN TV employee Necmeddîn Sînan dead and Delîla Egîd seriously injured. It is not a coincidence that the attack in Southern Kurdistan coincided with the same day.”

‘A dirty war policy is pursued against the Free Press workers’

Lîlav Hesen emphasised that in Southern Kurdistan, the Turkish state carries out journalism activities comfortably, but the Free Press is faced with dangers. Drawing attention to the betrayal of the KDP, the ruling party in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, she stated: “A dirty war policy is pursued against the Free Press workers. Sometimes they are murdered, sometimes they are kidnapped, sometimes they are imprisoned. These practices mean the end of the Turkish state and KDP. They target the Free Press workers who expose their annihilation and genocide policies and reveal the truth.”

‘We will follow in their footsteps’

Lîlav Hesen noted that Gulistan Tara was a pioneer in press organisations and especially in the women's press and added: ‘The loss of Gulistan Tara was heavy for all press employees. We will follow in the footsteps of Martyr Gulistan Tara and Hêro Bahaddîn until there is one single woman journalist left. Their pens and cameras will not remain unclaimed."

‘Journalists announce the colour, voice, resistance and struggle of women to the world’

Cûdî Elî said: ‘The Turkish state is especially targeting women journalists. Women journalists are leading the ‘Jin, Jiyan, Azadî’ revolution. They announce the colour, voice, resistance and struggle of women to the world. We have always taken as a basis a women-oriented press in line with the paradigm of women's freedom and the paths women have travelled in social, political, economic and cultural development. Therefore, Gulistan Tara, our pioneer, had an important place in the wind of the women's freedom revolution.”

‘They will not be able to silence women journalists’

Noting that the attack in the territory of Southern Kurdistan was shameful, Cûdî Elî concluded: ‘The KDP's partnership with the Turkish state and the silence of the Iraqi government cause the attacks to increase. Women journalists, politicians and activists have been targeted many times in the territory of Southern Kurdistan. In addition, the existing rights of journalists are being obstructed. Despite these attacks, they will not be able to silence women journalists. As YRJ members, we will carry the legacy left by our martyred journalist friends to victory.”

‘The KDP and the Iraqi government are responsible’

Pointing out that this is not the first time the Turkish state targets women journalists, Evîn Îbrahîm said: “The KDP and the Iraqi government are responsible and to blame for the deadly attack on Gulistan Tara and Hêro Bahaddîn because the Turkish state cannot carry out such attacks without their approval. If it wasn’t for their approval, it would not have been possible for Turkey to carry out attacks against civilians in Southern Kurdistan in a comfortable way.”

‘We will raise our struggle to free the truth from the darkness’

Evîn Îbrahim stressed that as women journalists, they will move forward by adding strength to the pen and camera of Gulistan Tara and Hêro Bahadîn, and concluded her speech as follows: “The slogan ‘Jin, Jiyan, Azadî’, pioneered by Kurdish women, is being shouted around the world today. Everyone demands their freedom under this slogan. It was women journalists who announced the ‘Jin, Jiyan, Azadî’ uprising to the world and peoples, and they sacrificed their lives for this slogan. As women journalists, we will raise our struggle to free the truth from the darkness. We also call on relevant institutions and organisations to take action to end the attacks against journalists.”