The Union of Kurdish Women Journalists (Yekîtiya Rojnamevanên Jinên Kurdistanê / ROJIN) released a statement focusing on the situation in North and East Syria. ROJIN condemned the Arab and Turkish media that incite war, fuel hatred among peoples through religious, sexist and nationalist rhetoric, promote misogyny, and thus become accomplices to crimes of genocide.
ROJIN also called on the International Media—which ignores the siege in Rojava, forced mass displacement, abductions and executions, the humanitarian crisis, and the torture of corpses, and which reports in a fragmented and incomplete manner—to uphold journalistic ethics and “keep the truth alive.”
“Women abducted by gangs under the label of ‘spoils of war’” are newsworthy. “Kobanê, which in 2015 stopped the barbarity of ISIS and gifted the world a great victory,” is newsworthy. “Kurds in Rojava who are being forced to their knees through genocide, hunger and displacement” are newsworthy. Sharing all these truths with the public is an ethical, professional and moral responsibility of the International Media. We invite you to go to the besieged areas, witness the facts firsthand, and practice impartial journalism.
The statement included the following assessment:
“As the Free Kurdish Press and Kurdistan Women’s Media, we have been striving to convey to world public opinion the genocide attacks that began in Aleppo on January 6 and spread across all of Northeast Syria, by closely following events through dozens of reporters and media outlets on the ground, together with images, photographs, information and documents.
War crimes committed
The images and documents coming from the region not only carry news value but also confirm war crimes. In Aleppo, the body of Deniz Çiya, a member of the Internal Security Forces, was thrown from the third floor of a building by gangs under the control of HTS and the Turkish state while chanting “Allahu Akbar.” Torture of corpses constitutes a war crime under international conventions. The same gangs forcibly displaced civilians in Aleppo, abducted dozens of people, killed some of them, and set homes on fire.
On January 20, the same gangs abducted two fighters of the Women’s Defense Units (YPJ), Amara Intiqam and Narîn Axîn, in the Deir ez-Zor region. The gangs forced the abducted women to speak on camera and treated both women resistance fighters as “spoils of war.”
On January 22, barbaric gangs killed five members of the Salih family who were trying to flee from Raqqa to Kobanê, and on January 27 they murdered Kurdish lawyer Silêman Ismail, who was also attempting to take refuge in Kobanê from Raqqa.
While these executions and war crimes continued, many regions of Rojava were placed under siege.
Due to the siege of Kobanê, access to basic necessities such as water, electricity, food and medical supplies has been cut off. The humanitarian crisis is worsening. Five children lost their lives in Kobanê due to power cuts and lack of oxygen. Tens of thousands of people subjected to forced displacement have taken refuge in Kobanê and other parts of Rojava. Because border crossings are closed, urgently collected aid has not been able to reach the region.
Arab and Turkish media as accomplices to war crimes
While all this humanitarian crisis and genocide attacks were taking place, some Arabic-language channels such as Al Arabiya, Al Hadath and Al Jazeera, along with Turkey’s pro-government media, presented civilian deaths and the humanitarian crisis as a victory. Like the gangs, Arab television channels that view women as “spoils” and “servants” produce hate-based broadcasts using sexist codes. Meanwhile, Turkey’s gutter media has legitimized the genocide attacks starting in Aleppo and reaching Kobanê, becoming complicit in the crimes by producing staged broadcasts and war propaganda. By labeling all Kurds in Aleppo and Rojava as terrorists, this media has turned all Kurds in the region into targets and applauded war, death, massacres and genocide. These criminal acts are documented daily through newspaper headlines, TV programs and digital media posts and fall within the scope of war crimes.
Through this destructive broadcasting, it has once again been confirmed that media, which should report in favor of peace and freedom, the public interest and democratic values, has become a party to the war. We expose this media that praises war, death, hunger and destruction through a militarist, nationalist, religious and sexist perspective, and we call on the public to boycott it.
Reaction to the International Media’s “selective” coverage
Some international media organizations have chosen to report what is happening in Rojava through “selective” coverage. Ignoring genocide, civilian executions, the humanitarian crisis and forced displacement in the region, international media preferred to frame events as “clashes between two forces.” The only issue deemed newsworthy internationally became “the fate of ISIS detainees in prisons.” The siege used as a method of war, children freezing to death, torture of women’s bodies, abductions, and the existence of gangs turned into weapons of mass destruction were not considered newsworthy.
We call on the international media to adhere to press ethics and journalistic values and to show the courage to share the truth with the public without bowing to government pressure.
Our Kurdish journalist colleagues are conveying the truth from conflict zones at the risk of their lives, with images, documents, information and photographs. We call on the International Media to respect this journalism carried out with a conscience and commitment to revealing the truth, and to produce reporting that will stop genocide attacks and properly inform the public: “Children who die from the cold under siege” are newsworthy. “Women abducted by gangs under the label of spoils of war” are newsworthy. “Kobanê, which in 2015 stopped ISIS barbarism and gifted the world a great victory,” is newsworthy. “Kurds in Rojava who are being forced to their knees through genocide, hunger and displacement” are newsworthy. Sharing all these truths with the public is the ethical, professional and moral responsibility of the international media.
We invite you to go to the besieged regions, witness the facts firsthand, and practice impartial journalism.
We will continue to defend the truth
As the Free Kurdish Media, which has lost dozens of martyrs in the pursuit of truth since the 1990s, we see it as a moral responsibility to broadcast live against the genocide attacks imposed on our people in Rojava. We will continue to share the truth with the public without distortion, expose crimes wanted to be covered up, and inform the public in a timely manner.
We will continue to defend democratic values, coexistence and the truth, and to recall the language of peace against the incitement of religious fundamentalism, nationalism, sexism and militarism.”