Iraqi Protesters Say Turkish Drone Strike Killed 2 Female Journalists
Several dozen protesters gathered on Saturday in Iraq’s autonomous Kurdish region to denounce a deadly drone strike, attributed to Turkey, that killed two female journalists. The strike, which occurred on Friday, claimed the lives of Gulistan Tara, 40, a Kurdish journalist from Turkey, and Hero Bahadin, 27, an Iraqi-Kurdish video editor, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). Another person was also injured in the attack.
Both an Iraqi security source and the counterterrorism service in Erbil, the regional capital, pointed to Turkey as the perpetrator of the strike. However, Turkey’s Defense Ministry denied responsibility for the bombing.
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At the protest in Sulaimaniyah, the Kurdish region’s second-largest city, approximately 100 demonstrators gathered to honor the slain journalists, chanting, “The martyrs will not die” while holding posters of the two women.
The CPJ reported that both journalists worked for CHATR, a Kurdish media production house that operates two news channels funded by the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). The PKK has waged a long insurgency against Turkey and maintains bases in the northern Iraqi mountains.
In March, Iraq’s federal government officially declared the PKK a “banned organization” after talks with Turkish officials. Earlier this month, Turkey and Iraq signed a military cooperation agreement, which includes joint efforts to combat the PKK.
