Kurdish journalists Gulistan Tara and Hêro Bahadîn were killed in the bomb attack carried out by the Turkish state on a vehicle in the Seyîdsadiq district of Sulaymaniyah (Silêmanî). Six other journalists, including Chatr Company director Rêbin Bekir (30), were injured.

Trade unions, associations and political parties protested the attack and called for the killers to be brought to justice.

IHD condemned killings of journalists

The Human Rights Association (IHD) said in a statement that “Kurdish media workers continue to be the target of bombs. Kurdish media and journalists, who were tried to be silenced with disappearances in custody and bombings of newspaper buildings in the 1990s, continue to be the target of bombs. On Friday, as the result of a drone attack on a vehicle in Sulaymaniyah in the Kurdistan Regional Government, two female Kurdish journalists (Gulistan Tara and Hêro Bahadîn) lost their lives. As human rights defenders, we consider this incident a massacre of journalists. It is known that Turkey has been conducting military operations in the region for some time.

We call on the Iraqi Government, the Republic of Turkey and the Kurdistan Regional Government to take responsibility bringing the killers to justice. We also demand that the details of the attack be facilitated for independent institutions to investigate. Free Media cannot be silenced.”

DEM party: the pens will not remain on the ground

The Women's Assembly of the Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) also issued a written statement, saying that the targeting of the vehicle carrying journalists was a deliberate and organized attack. “By targeting women journalists who exposed the attacks on the Kurdish people and women in the Federal Kurdistan Region, an attempt was made to cover up the war crimes committed in the region. The aim of this attack is to deepen the annexation and occupation policies and to prevent an international reaction against such policies.”

The statement continued: “These attacks on the Kurdish people, the gains of the Kurdish people, and the struggle for freedom have been carried out by agents and paramilitary forces before. Our journalist Nagihan Akarsel was murdered in Sulaymaniyah as a result of one of these attacks. The imperial powers and paramilitary structures that carried out this attack will not be able to intimidate the struggle of the Kurdish people, women, or women journalists.

We will not allow the war crimes committed to be covered up with civilian massacres. The Federal Kurdistan administration must immediately make a statement about these killings. It must expose the powers behind this massacre and hold them accountable. Otherwise, it will be directly responsible for and a party to these killings. Just as we keep our journalist Nagihan alive with her ideas, writings and struggle wherever we are, we reiterate our promise that we will keep the struggle of our comrades Gulistan Tara and Hero Bahadin alive as well. The pens of Kurdish women journalists of the free media will not remain on the ground.”

DISK BASIN IŞ: Attacks must end

DİSK Basın Iş posted a statement saying, “Journalists Gulistan Tara and Hêro Bahadîn lost their lives in the attack on the vehicle carrying journalists in Süleymaniyah. Journalists who ensure the public’s right to receive news and who perform a public service in this sense are also civilians, and international laws prohibit the targeting of civilians and therefore journalists in any type of conflict. We condemn this attack on our colleagues and offer our condolences to their families. All attacks on journalists must end immediately.”