“We call on Turkey’s defense authorities to conduct a thorough investigation into the killings of journalists Jihan Belkin and Nazim Dashdan in Syria. It is imperative to ensure those responsible are held accountable,” Gypsy Guillen Kaiser, advocacy and communications director for the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), said in a statement.
A suspected Turkish drone strike on Thursday killed Cihan Belkin and Nazim Dashtan, who worked for Hawar News Agency (ANHA), affiliated with the Kurdish administration in Rojava. The journalists were returning to Kobane after covering clashes between the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and the Syrian National Army (SNA) near Tishreen Dam and Qere Qozaq bridge.
ANHA manager Akram Barakat told CPJ that the journalists’ vehicle was targeted despite being “clearly marked as ‘Press,’ but Turkey ‘continues to disregard’ international laws.”
“Turkish drone strikes have repeatedly targeted journalists in our region while the international community remains silent,” he said.
Simultaneous with the rebel push for Damascus that toppled the regime of Bashar al-Assad, the SNA launched an attack on Kurdish forces in the north. It has received Turkish air support for its offensive, which is now threatening the symbolic Kurdish city of Kobane.
The Kurdish-led SDF on Wednesday warned that the SNA was violating a US-brokered ceasefire by launching attacks on Kobane, but Ankara on Thursday denied there was a truce in place.
Turkey considers the People’s Protection Units (YPG), the backbone of the SDF, as the Syrian front for the PKK, which is designated as a terrorist group by Ankara.
CPJ reached out to Turkey’s permanent mission at the United Nations for comment, but was yet to receive a response.
