ISTANBUL - Reacting to the murder of journalists Nazım Daştan and Cihan Bilgin, their colleagues say, "Our friends were murdered for deciphering war crimes and dirty plans."

 

Reactions against the massacre of Free Press journalists Nazım Daştan and Cihan Bilgin, who were killed by a Turkish Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicle (UCAV) attack while covering Turkey's attacks and developments in North and East Syria, continue to increase. Yeni Yaşam Newspaper workers Ahmet Güneş, Saliha Aras and journalist Erdoğan Alayumut evaluated the attacks against Free Press workers.

 

Stating that the murdered journalists Cihan Bilgin and Nazım Daştan were representatives of the truth, Ahmet Güneş expressed his condolences to the families of the murdered journalists and the Free Press. Stating that both murdered journalists endeavoured to write the truth throughout their working lives, Güneş said: "They were conveying the developments in Syria to us with the truth. We were conveying the truth to the public with the images they took and the news they reported. We are angry, but at the same time, we will continue to reflect and shout the truth in every field with the legacy and courage they left us."

 

'THEY WERE MURDERED ON DUTY'

 

Expressing that the employees of the Free Press have come this far as a result of great struggle and sacrifices, Güneş said: "Nation states have always tried to write a history and a truth according to themselves. However, the oppressed also write their own history and reveal their own truths. The Kurdish people have also come this far by writing their own facts and paying great prices. The state does not accept this. For example, in a recent video shared by Nazım, it was written that the state was preparing a serious attack on Kobanê. Our friends were murdered for deciphering war crimes and dirty plans. They were murdered on duty. This is a fact that should never be forgotten. We will shoulder their legacy together and be the bearers of it."

 

'WE WILL CONTINUE TO WRITE WHERE THEY LEFT OFF'

 

Saliha Aras emphasised that journalists who expose the war crimes committed by Turkey and its paramilitary groups are targeted by Turkey and said: "Free Press workers who massacre the Kurdish people, bomb their villages, kidnap women and write the truth against the reality that commits war crimes are under attack by Turkey. This government does not want the savage policies it implements to be heard. They aim to silence the voices of journalists who take a stance against this. Our friends were murdered for publicising the reality of war. Those who murdered Nazım and Cihan forget that every journalist who labours in the free press has taken up this profession at the cost of their life. Those who aim to silence the voice of the Free Press by murdering us will face our resistance and our commitment to the truth, just like in the 1990s. We make this promise to our friends here. Their pens will not remain on the ground and we will continue to write where they left off."

 

'OUR RESISTANCE AND OUR COMMITMENT TO TRUTH'

 

Emphasising that the murder of Nazım Daştan and Cihan Bilgin in the Tishreen Dam area was not a "coincidence", journalist Erdoğan Alayumat said: "In the conflicts in Syria, there were many news reports on the axis of special war. Nazım and Cihan were presenting news to the Kurdish people and the world in the clearest and most objective way. In fact, the murder of our friends in Minbic was not a coincidence. Because our friends were a point documenting the massacres committed there by the Turkish state and its paramilitary groups. It is our debt to take their pens from the ground."

 

CALL FOR UNITY AGAINST MASSACRES

 

Stating that journalists should fight together against the attacks, Alayumat continued his words as follows: "By revealing more of the truths revealed by our murdered friends, by writing more, filming and documenting more, perhaps we can be worthy of them and show solidarity with them. Saying that we do not accept this massacre and withdrawing is not a reaction on its own. It is the biggest lack of reaction."

 

MA / Ferhat Sezgin