Statement from Kurdistan 24 Company for Media and Research Ltd.
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) - For the past few years Kurdistan 24 Company for Media and Research Ltd. Has worked tirelessly in Western Kurdistan administration (North Syria) and after receiving official license from the local administration to work in the region, Kurdistan 24 has worked based on journalistic ethics and professionalism and will continues to work that way.
During those working years in the region, our journalist team and staff has on numerous times put their lives in danger just for sake of covering the fights and conflicts and the dire situation of the region and became source of news for international media and agencies. Unfortunately in the last month or so and based on decisions from some officials within Western Kurdistan (Northern Syria) local administration, we have been banned from working in the region and the officials have seized and suspended our working license in the Syrian Kurdistan Region.
Despite these unilateral decision we have talked and met with local administration officials and tried to re-start our work, however most of our efforts have been fruitless.
So based on the recent events and actions we in Kurdistan 24 Company for Media and Research Ltd. would like to inform all the freedom loving people around the world that we cannot wait and stay silent and we have come to unfortunate decision of closing down our Syrian Kurdistan ( North Syria) Bureau and will be forced to use other news sources to get latest information on the region, which regrettably is not the way we want to work.
Banning our journalists from working in the region by local administration is not only against freedom of speech and democratic norms, also its a dangerous signal for the newly local administration in regards of upholding democratic principles and individual rights as well as transparency in their authority, in which the local northern Syrian administration has faced criticism internally as well as internationally in the par and this will become another black mark on their leadership.
In the last a few years Our reporters famously covered the Afrin invasion as well as manbij, Raqqa and Deir ez-Zur liberation operations, and their sacrifice and coverage is a prove of our provisional and balanced as well as impartial and unbiased work. In those operations our cameras and crew were the only source of news for the entire world. Furthermore through tour correspondents question and inquiries during international summits and conferences is another prove that Kurdistan 24 has never been against the interest of Syrian Kurdistan people or its cause. In fact it has worked in the interest of the people and tried to present them with the best possible quality of journalism.
In addition most of people have seen that during US State Department press conferences or European leaders’ press briefings, the questions of in which our correspondents chose to ask or what angle they chose to work in regards to Syrian Kurdistan situation and position.
In the future our work in the region will be the same as before which will be based on professionalism and journalistic ethics and will cover the events unbiased and impartially and covering the problem of the ordinary people will be in the forefront of our work.
Even though the decision to prevent us from working is a political one, but we will try our utmost to be even close to our viewers and audiences and will try to cover the event in the region in a best possible way and make every attempt to become the voice of Rojava people in the world stage.
Finally in the near future we will try to setup different communication channels from the region to receive latest news from the ground, so the people can continue with us on different level and keep watching us to hear their news and development in their region.
Kurdistan 24 Company for Media and Research Ltd.
2 September 2019
A copy to;
Kurdistan Journalist Syndicate
Syrian- Kurdistan Journalist Syndicate
International Federation of Journalists
Reporters Without Borders
United States Department of State
United Kingdom Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation
French Ministry of Foreign Affairs
German Federal Foreign Office
European Union Foreign Affairs Council
Freedom House Organization