ANHA correspondent Cihan Bilgin and ANF correspondent Nazım Daştan were martyred in a Turkish UCAV attack on the road between the Tishrin Dam and the town of Sirrin on 19 December 2024.
Kurdish journalists Nazım Daştan and Cihan Bilgin were covering events in Northern and Eastern Syria when they were killed in a Turkish drone strike in December 2024. 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.
The two journalists were laid to rest at the Şehîd Delîl Saruxan Cemetery of Martyrs in Qamishlo on 11 January.
On the occasion of March 8, International Women's Day, female employees of Hawar News Agency (ANHA) visited the graves of journalists Cihan Bilgin and Nazım Daştan and laid flowers.
Background
While the families of the two journalists made repeated attempts to retrieve their bodies and bury them in their hometowns in Northern Kurdistan, the AKP-MHP government denied permission for the repatriation of their remains.
Initially, it was announced that the bodies of the two journalists would be transferred from Qamishlo to the Nusaybin district of Mardin to be handed over to their families. When the families arrived at the Qamishlo border, they were informed that the bodies would not be given to them. The families were then told that the remains would be transferred from Rojava to Southern Kurdistan (Northern Iraq) via the Sêmalka Border Crossing.
In light of the information provided to them, a delegation, including the families of Daştan and Bilgin, took action to cross into Southern Kurdistan through the Habur Border Crossing in Silopi district of Şırnak.
When their passage was obstructed by Turkish authorities, the delegation began a sit-in in protest. Despite two days of demonstrations, the AKP-MHP government refused to allow the passage of the delegation to retrieve the bodies. Given the situation, the families decided that Nazım Daştan and Cihan Bilgin should be laid to rest in Qamishlo.
The two journalists were laid to rest at the Şehîd Delîl Saroxan Cemetery of Martyrs in Qamishlo on 11 January.
