The recent attack on a vehicle carrying Kurdish journalists by a Turkish drone near Said Sadiq in Iraqi Kurdistan has sparked widespread condemnation. The incident has drawn sharp reactions from both individuals and organisations, who challenge the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) Intelligence Organisation’s claims that the strike targeted members of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
On Friday, Kamal Heme Reza, director of Chatr Media Company, condemned the Turkish airstrike during a press conference in Sulaymaniyah (Silêmanî), Iraqi Kurdistan.
Reza emphasised that the two women journalists who were killed were performing their professional duties and had no affiliations with militant groups. He also criticised the KDP-affiliated counter-terrorism service’s (Kurdistan CT) statement, which inaccurately described one of the victims as a senior PKK official. Reza denounced this claim as unethical and a dangerous distortion of public perception.
Prominent Kurdish journalist Niyaz Abdullah criticised the Kurdistan Region’s Security Council and its security agencies for their failure to safeguard journalists. Abdullah expressed profound concern over the deaths of Gulîstan Tara and Hêro Bahadîn, highlighting the inadequacy of regional security measures.
Adham Barzani, a former member of the KDP’s political office, also issued a strong condemnation of the attack, labelling the killing of the two journalists as an international crime. Barzani called on the international community to denounce Turkey’s blatant violation of international law and to take action to prevent such incidents in the future.
In a separate press conference, Karwan Anwar, secretary of the Sulaymaniyah Journalists’ Syndicate, condemned the attack and underscored that international law prohibits targeting journalists, even in conflict zones. Anwar pledged to escalate the issue to all relevant authorities. The Gorran Movement similarly condemned the attack, suggesting that such actions could not occur without the complicity of certain groups and domestic spies.
