The Dicle Euphrates Journalists Association (DFG) and the Mesopotamia Women Journalists Association (MKG) issued an urgent call to the international press regarding the ongoing attacks in North and East Syria (Rojava).
The statement emphasized that what is happening in Rojava is not a local conflict, but a grave humanitarian crisis that concerns international law and human rights.
The statement noted that the HTS administration, Turkey-backed armed groups, and elements previously linked to ISIS are carrying out coordinated attacks against Rojava, and that the attacks, which began in Kurdish neighborhoods of Aleppo, have spread along the Kobanê–Hasekê line.
The statement added that during the attacks, serious human rights violations such as executions of civilians, forced displacement, torture, and looting have occurred, and that women, children, and the elderly have been directly targeted.
The DFG and MKG stressed that Kurdish cities have been left without electricity and water, and that targeting prisons holding ISIS detainees poses a threat to regional and global security, underlining that these acts fall within the scope of war crimes and crimes against humanity. The statement also drew attention to attempts to render massacres invisible through disinformation, particularly via Turkish media.
Stating that journalists’ lives are under serious threat, the organizations called on the international press to “carry out independent and visible reporting on what is happening in Rojava, and to keep eyewitness accounts and human rights violations on the agenda.” DFG and MKG said that this call is not about taking sides, but about taking a stand in favor of life, law, and human dignity.