Members of the Free Press in Shengal (Sinjar) gathered in the ‘Leader’s Garden’ in Kersê Valley and made a press statement regarding Friday’s deadly Turkish attack that claimed the lives of two female journalists in Sulaymaniyah city in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.

Carrying the photographs of their fallen colleagues, Gulistan Tara and Hêro Bahadîn, Yazidi journalists condemned the attack by the Turkish state and its collaborators and called on media institutions and organisations to protect the rights of journalists.

Speaking here, free press worker Rojbîn Hebabî said the following: “Journalists are targeted by the occupying Turkish state because they reveal the truth. We state hereby that the attacks of the Turkish state will not stop us. On the contrary, every attack will strengthen us. Every martyrdom raises our determination to struggle and makes our voice sound even stronger.”

Journalist Ibrahim Êzidî stated that the KDP had a hand in the attack in Sulaymaniyah, which, he said, was a result of the agreement between Iraq and Turkey.

“We renew here once again the promise of struggle we gave to our martyrs. While the free press is based on the democratic nation system, KDP's media organisations are based on slavery and the occupation of Kurdistan. The fact that the KDP media outlets reported the attack before anyone else shows that they had a hand in the attack. Our struggle for the truth will continue until the end. We know that all journalists who express the pain of the society and try to be the voice of their people become targets. They cannot make us take a step back with these attacks. We will always follow in the footsteps of our martyrs,” he stated.

Ibrahim Êzidî concluded: "These attacks against journalists are the beginning of a new phase. Targeting journalists shows the dirty and dangerous plans behind the attack. Those who do not accept the KDP administration and the occupation of the Turkish state become the targets of attacks.”