Protest erupts in Iraqi Kurdistan after ‘Turkish’ drone strike kills 2 journalists

Dozens of demonstrators gathered in Iraq’s Kurdish region yesterday to protest a drone strike that killed two female journalists, an attack attributed to Turkiye by local officials.

The victims, Gulistan Tara, 40, a Kurdish journalist from Turkiye, and Hero Bahadin, 27, an Iraqi-Kurdish video editor, worked for CHATR, a Kurdish media production house linked to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which is a designated terrorist organisation by Turkiye, the US and the EU.

The strike, which occurred on Friday, also resulted in another injury. Although an Iraqi security source and the Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) counter-terrorism service in Erbil blamed Turkiye, Ankara denied involvement. Protesters in Sulaimaniyah, Iraq’s second-largest city, chanted, “The martyrs will not die,” while holding posters of the two journalists.

The Turkish military maintains a presence in the region to combat the Kurdish separatists. However, local activists condemned the attack, describing it as an unjustifiable crime and a violation of Iraqi sovereignty.

Kürt Basın Emekçileri bombaların hedefi olmaya devam ediyor.

1990'lı yıllarda gözaltında kaybedilmelerle, gazete binalarının bombalanmasıyla susturulmaya çalışılan Kürt Basını ve basın emekçileri halen bombaların hedefi olmaya devam ediyor.

Son olarak Kürdistan Bölgesel… pic.twitter.com/AJVwWaJRhb

— İHD Genel Merkezi (@ihdgenelmerkez) August 23, 2024

Turkiye’s human rights watchdog, IHD has condemned the strike, calling for accountability and an independent investigation into what it termed a “journalist massacre.” The Press Workers’ Union of Turkiye, affiliated with the Confederation of Progressive Trade Unions of Turkiye (DISK), also denounced the attack, highlighting that such actions not only violate journalists’ rights but also undermine the public’s fundamental right to information.

Recent diplomatic moves between Ankara and Baghdad have seen the PKK designated as a banned organisation and agreements for joint military operations against Kurdish militants, including the training of Iraqi soldiers by the Turkish military.

READ: Iraq judiciary dissolves three political parties over ties to PKK