RIHA - Cihan Bilgin, who started her career as Apê Musa's "little general" on the streets of Amed (Diyarbakır), has always focused on the women's revolution and resistance in North and East Syria, shedding light on processes she calls "historical" with her news reports.
Free Press workers Nazım Daştan and Cihan Bilgin, who were following the developments in North and East Syria, where attacks by Turkey and the Syrian National Army (SNA) continued, were killed by drone attack on the road between Tishreen Dam and Sirîn town.
Cihan Bilgin, who was born on 27 October 1995 in Mîdyad (Midyat) district of Mêrdîn (Mardin), met with the Free Press in 2014 after her education. Cihan Bilgin started work on the streets of Amed (Diyarbakır) as Apê Musa's little general, distributed Azadîya Welat and Özgür Gündem newspapers. Cihan Bilgin's biggest dream was to see and witness the "women's revolution" that took place after the liberation of Kobanê. In December 2017, Cihan Bilgin turned her attention to North and East Syria and continued her free press work at Hawar News Agency (ANHA).
SHE TRACED THE TRUTH
Cihan Bilgin, a student of journalist-writer Seyit Evran (Seyit Mahmut Evran), one of the important workers of the Free Press, conveyed the "truth" to the public with every news she reported. Turning her camera to the resisters from Qamishlo to Hasekê, from there to Shahba and Manbij, Cihan Bilgin was one of the journalists who followed the ISIS attacks on Sinai Prison in Hesekê on 20 January 2022 with his journalist friend Nazım Daştan and announced them to the world. Cihan Bilgin, who participated as a signatory in the campaigns against the "invasion attacks" against the Federated Kurdistan Region, has always set an example to her friends not only with her news reports but also with her sensitivity to social events.
SHE FOLLOWED WOMEN AND RESISTANCE
Turning her camera to women's struggle for life, the stories of murdered women, rights violations and women resisting against occupation attacks, Cihan Bilgin focused on the resistance in Manbij, which was attacked by Turkey and the SNA guided by Turkey, until the last moment. Cihan Bilgin, who travelled to the region with journalist Nazım Daştan to report on the developments in Tishreen and Qereqozak, where Turkey's attacks continued after the Manbij Military Council's decision to leave the city, set off from Qereqozak to Tishreen. However, near the town of Sırrın, she was killed along with Nazım Daştan in a Turkish Armed Forces' drone attack, despite the ongoing "ceasefire" between Turkey and the SDF.
Cihan Bilgin interviewed Roj Engizek, one of the Qereqozak front commanders, in her latest news report published in ANHA, and revealed the resistance of women.
'HISTORICAL PROCESS AWAITS US'
Cihan Bilgin, who made evaluations to Mezopotamya Agency (MA) about the events in the region before she was murdered, referred to the purpose of the attacks carried out by Turkey and the SNA on the pretext of the Suleyman Shah Tomb and said: "The peoples of the region defeated the darkness of ISIS with a great struggle. But now Turkey wants to bring the same darkness to these lands again. The peoples of the world must speak out against these attacks as they did against ISIS. Recognising the status of the Autonomous Administration model is a vital necessity in the construction of the new Syria."
In her last message to a colleague shortly before she was murdered, Cihan Bilgin emphasised the historical significance of the events in North and East Syria, saying "The historical process awaits us". Cihan Bilgin had covered countless news stories in the 8 years she worked for ANHA.