The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), an international non-governmental organisation based in New York, on Friday called on Turkey to conduct an urgent and thorough investigation into a recent drone attack on a vehicle carrying journalists in Kurdish-controlled northeast Syria. The incident on 23 August resulted in the driver being killed and one journalist being injured.
A car belonging to the all-female JIN TV channel was reported to have been targeted by a drone strike, suspected to be Turkish, killing the driver Nejmedîn Faysal Hejî Sînan and seriously injuring journalist Dalila Agid. Agid has undergone surgery and is currently in intensive care.
The JIN TV team was reportedly travelling between the Syrian cities of Amuda and Qamishli, near the Turkish border, when the drone strike occurred. JIN TV board member Dijla Eito, said Agid had been covering an event commemorating the deaths of two Kurdish officials killed in another drone strike in June this year.
The CPJ’s Middle East and North Africa programme coordinator Sherif Mansour, expressed deep sorrow over the incident and stressed the need for the Turkish authorities to conduct a thorough investigation, determine responsibility for the attack, and hold the perpetrators to account.
The CPJ noted that it had approached Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s office for comment, but had not received a response.
