Turkey and the Syrian National Army (SNA) continue their attacks on North and East Syria. As the attacks around Qereqozak Bridge and Tishreen Dam entered their 13th day, journalists Nazım Daştan and Cihan Bilgin were targeted and killed by a Turkish Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicle (UCAV) while following the developments in the region. In Turkey's attacks in the last 5 years, 9 journalists were killed. 

 

Journalists İnci Hekimoğlu, Candan Yıldız and Hakkı Özdal reacted to the murder of Nazım Daştan and Cihan Bilgin. 

 

INTERNATIONAL CRIME

 

 

Reminding that Israel targeted journalists in Gaza, İnci Hekimoğlu said that Turkey is doing the same in North and East Syria. Targeting of journalists who follow news in the field is an international crime said İnci Hekimoğlu and added: “Unfortunately, we are now experiencing a process that ‘legitimizes’ even international criminals. According to the news, two journalists were directly targeted and killed. These processes will pass, but these crimes against humanity will one day come to the table both internationally and in Turkey. The public's right to information has been violated for a long time. Journalists in Turkey are thrown into prisons and dragged through courts. Journalists are now being targeted even outside the borders.” 

 

İnci Hekimoğlu underlined that the attacks were not something to be glossed over with two lines and reacted to the silence of the so-called opposition channels. 

 

“There needs to be a big reaction against these attacks.  It must not fall off the agenda. Journalists will continue to do their duty. These murders should be opposed not only by newspaper organizations but by the whole public opinion. I call on all public opinion to react.” 

 

'INDEPENDENT ORGANIZATIONS SHOULD STEP IN'

 

 

"The death of every journalis ist eh death of truths," said journalist Candan Yıldız and added: "Remember that the Israeli state, one of the cruelest of the borderless states, killed Palestinian journalist Shirin Abu Aqile. Subsequent independent investigation organizations reported that Akile was targeted and deliberately killed. The same investigation must be carried out for Nazım Daştan and Cihan Bilgin. Nazım Daştan and Cihan Bilgin were targeted because of their news reports. In order to know exactly what is happening on a multi-actor battlefield, it is essential to have journalists on the ground. Who knows what was the last image on their cameras and cell phones. All journalist organizations must stand up for Nazım Daştan and Cihan Bilgin. Journalists must be under international protection in war zones. According to the law of war, journalists cannot be touched. The safety of other journalists' lives rests on the shoulders of all institutions.”

 

CALL FOR INVESTIGATION

 

 

Journalist Hakkı Özdal said: “There are thousands of civilians and dozens of journalists who have lost their lives in the conflicts that have been going on in the region for more than 10 years. It seems that Bilgin and Daştan were deliberately killed by targeting them from the air. These murders, which were carried out by the forces that want to turn the situation in the region into a permanent instability in order to prevent the flow of healthy information and news from the region, are the last link in the attacks that the Kurdish press has been subjected to for decades. This is also a war crime. The reaction to these murders will be one of the facts that will determine the level of life safety of journalists in Syria and the region in the near future.” 

 

Calling for an investigation, Özdal continued: "It is the foreign policy of the SNA and the AKP government, which oepnly supports it, that orchestrated the attacks in the region. This situation is dragging the region into instability and chaos and causing civilian casualties. We call on all authorities to investigate this attack and to expose and punish those responsible and we call on the press and professional organizations to put pressure on the institutions."