Turkey and its affiliated Syrian National Army (SNA) continue to target journalists in their attacks on North and East Syria. Since 2019, 15 journalists have been targeted and killed in the attacks launched by Turkey and its paramilitary forces. Egid Roj was the latest journalist to be targeted and killed by Turkey's drones while covering the attacks on the Tishreen Dam. 

 

Hevidar Henan, a colleague of Hawar News Agency (ANHA) reporter Egid Roj, who was killed by Turkey on February 15, said that he knew Egid Roj, who was originally from Afrin, when he lived with his family in Aleppo, and that he took an active role in the revolution from the mobilization period of the Rojava revolution when he was a young child. Stating that Egid Roj, who later studied journalism, was a person committed to his cause and values, Hevîdar Henan said, “He was the child of a patriotic family. His family was an example for every family in Afrin. Especially their mother, who raised the family, gave them this awareness. He treated all his technical equipment like living beings. We spent a lot of time together during the war in Afrin. We were separated for a long time. We didn't work together. He wanted to be a war correspondent. We would only occasionally come across each other in the working areas. He traveled all over Afrin. His biggest dream was to document the occupation of Afrin and the massacre the Kurds of Afrin were facing. He had a lot of documents. He archived everything he saw about Afrin. He said he was writing history.”

 

31 JOURNALISTS MURDERED

 

Hevidar Henan noted that with the assassination of Egid Roj, 3 journalists have been targeted in North and East Syria in the last 4 months and added that 31 journalists have been assassinated by Turkey in the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria so far. Hevîdar Henan said that Egid Roj always turned his attention to the regions where there was war and carried out journalistic activities in these difficult areas, and quoted Egid Roj as saying “I can't sit in my seat” about the days when he could not follow the developments in Tishreen Dam. Hevîdar Henan said that Egid Roj has always turned its direction towards the resistance.

 

Hevidar Henan added, “Those journalists who write news about what is on the agenda for us every day have themselves become news. Turkey is waging a very deep and very dirty war not only with weapons but also psychologically. Why are Nazim, Cihan, Egid being targeted? Because they show the true face and aggression of the Turkish state. There was also Egid's latest video, the people who went there were standing guard with halays and laughing. In order to overshadow these images, they are targeting those who bring them to the world. Nazım Daştan had exposed the dirty partnership between Turkey and ISIS. Cihan Bilgin had exposed the spying activities being carried out in North and East Syria. Egid Roj was documenting the massacre against the people of Afrin and showing the resistance at the Tishreen Dam. For this reason they were targeted. Cihan and Nazım are gone, but hundreds of their friends who took over their legacy are following in their footsteps. Egid, who was murdered, will not be spared either. The war they waged here will always be alive. They left a legacy for all journalists. All our friends who remain with these friends are displaying a great resistance by drawing strength from them.”

 

MA / Ceylan Şahinli