Efforts continue to retrieve the bodies of Kurdish journalists Nazım Daştan and Cihan Bilgin who were killed in a drone attack by the Turkish state in Rojava last month. Nazım Daştan and Cihan Bilgin were both from Northern Kurdistan, but had been working for Kurdish media organisations in the autonomous region of North and East Syria for years. On 19 December, they were on their way back from a report about the fighting between the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and the Turkish-backed SNA mercenary troops on the Tishrin front on the Euphrates when their car, marked as a ‘press vehicle’, was deliberately targeted by a Turkish drone. The two journalists were killed instantly, while their driver was injured.

Yesterday, thousands of people in Qamishlo bid farewell to the two journalists, whose bodies are to be sent to Northern Kurdistan as per the request of their families.

Families and representatives of non-governmental organisations set out for the Federal Kurdistan Region in Iraq to receive the bodies of Nazım Daştan and Cihan Bilgin through the Semelka border crossing between Rojava and Bashur (South Kurdistan).

The delegation, which also includes Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) Mardin MP Kamuran Tanhan and Dicle Fırat Journalists Association (DFG) and Association of Lawyers for Freedom (ÖHD) members, went to Khabour Border Crossing in Silopi district of Şırnak to cross into Iraq. Denied permission to leave the country, the delegation has been kept waiting at the Turkish-Iraqi border crossing since yesterday.

According to the Amed (tr. Diyarbakır) branch of the Human Rights Association (IHD), both the Turkish Foreign Ministry and the Parliamentary Human Rights Commission are said to be ignoring a request they made on 24 December for the transfer of the journalists’ bodies.

The Turkish Consulate General in Hewlêr (Erbil) in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq has also left a corresponding request unanswered. The IHD condemned the inhumane treatment, stressing that “all people have the right to be buried with dignity”.

The delegation was kept waiting for hours at the Khabour border crossing on the grounds that ‘the X-ray vehicle scanner was out of order’. After passing through the X-ray device, the delegation was kept waiting in the passport control section on the grounds of a technical problem, while other cars were granted crossing.

MP Kamuran Tanhan said they faced arbitrary practices, calling the obstruction “an inhumane treatment”. He contacted the Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and requested that the delegation be allowed to pass, but received no reply.

“This is an arbitrary decision. Everyone has the right to have a grave that has a sacred value and a symbol of remembrance in all civilisations. This right is so natural and indisputable that it does not even require a written regulation by law. The right to be buried in a manner befitting human dignity and the right of people to bury their relatives should not be violated,” Tanhan stated.

Denouncing the violation of international law, the Democratic Regions Party (DBP) stated that the arbitrary prevention of the delivery of bodies is both disrespectful to the memory of the deceased and a persecution of their relatives.

The Dicle Fırat Journalists Association (DFG) also condemned the obstruction of the delegation at the border crossing and stressed that non-delivery of bodies was a violation of international law.

Cihan Bilgin's father, Nesim Bilgin, stated that they will continue to wait until they are allowed to pass: “We have not been allowed through the border crossing since yesterday.  Such a thing is unacceptable. Vehicles other than us are allowed through. We have been here for two days and we are waiting. We will not leave here until we get the bodies of our beloved ones. This is cruelty.  We ask the Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to put an end to this unlawful decision. Enough of them hurting us. We are also citizens of this country. Our children were journalists, they were not armed. My daughter was a lawyer and also a journalist. We want the bodies to be delivered to us as soon as possible. This lawlessness must end.”

Nazım Daştan's father, Mehmet Ali Daştan, also addressed the authorities and said that this unlawful treatment should end: “We came here to take the bodies of our children, but we have been prevented from crossing the border for 2 days with various excuses. We do not accept this lawlessness. We appeal to the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Parliament; give us the bodies of our beloved ones as soon as possible. We do not ask for anything else. Put an end to this lawlessness. Our demand is to take the bodies of our children and bury them.”