Nearly a hundred candles illuminated  path in the search for truth

The struggle of the free media witnessed important turning points in the history of the Kurdish struggle. It sought to show the Kurdish reality to public opinion, and took the path of conveying the truth of the Kurdish and Kurdish society with all valor and nobility. Despite the continuous attacks against the Kurdish and Kurdish people by the occupiers, those who took the path of free media they did not hesitate for a moment to monitor and reveal the truth with all courage. They demolished the monuments of tyrants and left their mark on history. They became the voice and color of truth and society. They took the first steps in all media fields, including journalism, radio stations, television channels, agencies, and many media fields, and they became a role model.

Here we will highlight the journalists and media professionals who sacrificed their lives in order to reveal the truth and keep the flame of free media burning to this day.

Mazloum Dogan is considered a media pioneer in the history of free media, through the Serxwbun Newspaper. He was arrested in 1979 and taken to Amed prison. He continued his journalistic work in prison and published Hawar magazine, which was entirely handwritten, and distributed it to detainees in prisons.

On the eve of March 21, 1982, he lit the flame of Newroz by setting his body on fire, beginning a new phase in the history of the Kurdistan liberation movement and giving him the contemporary name Kawa.

28 newspapers in North and East Syria

- Mazloum Bakok (Ahmed Saado), born in 1992 in the city of Qamishlo, is the first journalist martyred in northern and eastern Syria, while covering the campaign to open the humanitarian corridor between Rojava and Şengal on September 28, 2014.

- Raywan Zagros, (Kadar Khalaf), a member of the People’s Protection Units’ media, was martyred on December 21, 2014 in the village of Palestine in the town of Jaza’a in Jazira canton, while covering the resistance of the People’s Protection Units in Jaza’a.

Bahoz Houran was born in the city of Kobani. He worked as a field journalist, and was martyred while covering his campaign to liberate the city of Kobani from ISIS mercenaries on January 1, 2015.

Media personality Akri Yilmaz (Maryam Muhammad), born in the city of Raqqa in 1995, was martyred while covering the campaign to liberate Kobani from ISIS mercenaries, in the village of Khan Mamed, on April 13, 2015.

-Arin Judy (Ahin Fayek Ibrahim), born in the village of Maashouk in the Tirbespiyê   district in 1996, was martyred as a result of a mine explosion in the al-Hol area of Hasakah during her journalistic work in 2016.

Aram Jan (Aram Muhammad Abdullah), a member of the People’s Protection Units media, was martyred during his coverage of the campaign to liberate the city of Manbij from ISIS mercenaries on June 2, 2016.

- Mustafa Muhammad Shukri, born in the occupied Girê Spi district in 1987, was a correspondent for Ronahi satellite channel, and was martyred while following the campaign to liberate Manbij from ISIS mercenaries on July 19, 2016.

- Rustam Gilo, real name is Salah Sido, a member of the People’s Protection Units media. He was martyred as a result of the Turkish occupation army’s bombing of the al-Shahba areas. He was martyred on November 11, 2016.

- September Nohalat (Ronahi Omar), a member of the YPJ media, was martyred in the Shahba areas while following the campaign to liberate the villages of the Shahba countryside from mercenaries on November 20, 2016.

- Muhammad Aksoy, nom de guerre Firas Dagh, was born in the al-Bistan district of Maraş in Bakur (Northern Kurdistan). He grew up in the British capital, London, after his family fled to Europe when he was young. He was a member of the People’s Protection Units’ media. He was martyred on the morning of the 26th of September. / September 2017, as a result of an attack by ISIS mercenaries on the positions of the People’s Protection Units, in Jazira Storm campaign.

-Gharib Walat (Gharib Rasho), one of the founders of the People’s Protection Units media, was born in the village of Sinka in the Shara district of Afrin in 1996. He was martyred during his coverage of the Wrath of the Euphrates campaign to liberate Raqqa on April 21, 2017.

- Rewan Kenjo (Ahmed Hassan Hamo), born in the village of Bayandur in the Tirbespiyê district, and a member of the People’s Protection Units’ media, was martyred in a bombing on the village of Qaramox in the city of Derik on April 25, 2017.

- Hakki Bakok (Jalal Hassan), born in the village of Ataba, located northeast of the city of Tirbespiyê, in 1988, was martyred during the Turkish occupation army’s bombing of Mount Qaramox on April 25, 2017.

- Shilan Botan (name is Reem Khashman) from the Derik district. She was martyred during the Turkish occupation’s bombing of the Qaramox mountains in the Derik district on April 25, 2017.

Delishan Ibish, a reporter at Hawar News Agency ANHA, was born on September 26, 1991 in the city of Kobani, and was martyred as a result of a suicide attack by ISIS mercenaries east of the Euphrates River on October 12, 2017.

Hawker Muhammad, Hawar News Agency correspondent from the city of Qamishlo, was martyred as a result of a suicide attack by ISIS mercenaries east of the Euphrates River on October 12, 2017.

- Rizgar Adanmesh (Razgar Deniz), Hawar News Agency correspondent, was martyred while covering the Deir ez-Zor countryside campaign on December 20, 2017, as a result of an injury in the suicide attack carried out by ISIS mercenaries on October 12.

Tolhadan Welat (Ocalan Ahmed), a journalist in the People’s Protection Units from the city of Afrin, was martyred in the Resistance of the Age, following the Turkish occupation’s bombing of the Afrin region on January 23, 2018.

- Ismail Khalil was a media figure for the Syrian Democratic Forces and was martyred on January 29, 2018.

- Rohanda Afrin, a member of the YPJ media, was martyred in the Resistance of the Age in the city of Janders 2018.

- Saad Muhammad Saeed Sheikhmus Al-Ahmad, correspondent of Hawar News Agency, from the Tal Tamr district, was martyred while covering the human shield convoy heading to the Serêkaniyê district on October 13, 2019, as a result of the Turkish bombing.

- Muhammad Hussein Rasho, a correspondent for the Yazidi Gra TV satellite channel, was born in the city of Afrin and was martyred while covering a convoy of human shields heading to support the Sere Kaniye resistance on October 13, 2019.

- Delovan Kafr (Dylan Olmaz), from the Kafr region in Northern Kurdistan, was martyred while documenting the Turkish occupation attacks on the villages of Girê Spi on October 13, 2019.

- Widad Erdemji, from Northern Kurdistan, was martyred as a result of the Turkish occupation army’s bombing of the city of Serêkaniyê on October 10, 2019.

- Zissin Sinkaa, who worked as a member of the Free Power Marenger media, was martyred in the Tal Tamr district following the Turkish occupation’s bombing in 2019.

Issam Abdullah, a correspondent for Hawar News Agency, was born in the city of Derik. He was martyred while documenting the bombing of the Turkish occupation army on the village of Taql Bakl in the Derik district on November 20, 2022.

- Najm al-Din Faisal al-Haj Sinan, a worker at the Jin TV channel, was bombed by a Turkish UAV on the Qamishlo-Amuda road on August 23, 2023.

- Sayed Afran, the revolutionary journalist and writer, was martyred on September 22, 2024. He was suffering from a heart disease and had been receiving treatment in the hospital for a long time.

In Northern Kurdistan

In Northern Kurdistan, a group of media professionals and journalists were martyred at the hands of successive Turkish authorities

- March 21, 1982, the revolutionary fighter and pioneer of the free press, Mazloum Dogan, was martyred in Amad prison.

February 24, 1992: Yeni Ülke (New Homeland) journalist Cengiz Alton was martyred.

- June 8, 1992, Özgür Gündem newspaper journalist Hafez Akhdemir was martyred.

- July 30, 1992, Özgür Halk (Free People) newspaper journalist Cetin Ababay was martyred.

- July 31, 1992, Özgür Gündem newspaper journalist Yahya Orhan was martyred.

- August 10, 1992, Hussein Deniz, journalist in Özgür Gündem newspaper, was martyred.

- September 20, 1992, Özgür Gündem newspaper journalist Musa Antar was martyred.

- November 21, 1992, distributor Khalil Adner was martyred

- December 15, 1992, distributor Kemal Akinji was martyred

- December 31, 1992, the distributor Lukman Gunduz was martyred.

On January 19, 1993, the journalist Orhan Karaçar, who was working in newspaper distribution, was martyred.

On February 2, 1993, the journalist for the newspaper Özgür Ülke (Freedom of the Nation), Cemal Akar, was martyred.

On February 18, Özgür Gündem newspaper journalist Kemal Cicek was martyred in 1993.

- June 4, 1993, distributor Teman Demir was martyred

- June 14, 1993, distributor Hashem Ash was martyred

- July 28, 1993, Özgür Gündem newspaper journalist Farhad Tap was martyred.

- September 28, 1993, the distributor Zolkov Akaya was martyred

- November 9, 1993, distributor Adel Bashqan was martyred

- November 10, 1993, the distributor Yalgin Yash was martyred

- November 19, 1993, the distributor, Qadir Aybak Sur, was martyred.

- November 27, 1993, the distributor Adnan Ishak was martyred

- December 3, 1993, the distributor, Muhammad Sinjar, was martyred

- December 4, 1993, distributor Musa Dogo was martyred

- March 12, 1994, Nazim Babakulu, a journalist working for Özgür Gündem newspaper, went missing.

- August 23, 1994, the distributor Khidir Cetin was martyred

- August 29, 1994, Yeni Politika (Free Politics) journalist Seif El-Din Tab was martyred.

- August 30, 1994, Özgür Gündem newspaper journalist Mehmet Şenul was martyred.

- December 3, 1994, the journalist of the newspaper Özgür Ülke (New Homeland), Arsin Yildiz, was martyred.

- October 7, 1997, Özgür Gündem newspaper journalist Gürbet Ali Arsuz was martyred.

On April 11, 1998, the journalist for the newspaper Özgür Politika (Free Politics), Enver Boltan, was martyred.

- September 14, 1998, Sinan Ghahraman, journalist for the newspaper Özgür Politika (Free Politics), was martyred.

- November 27, 1998, distributor Nihad Yagout was martyred

- June 25, 1999, distributor Hassan Aydin was martyred

- September 28, 1999, Ankin Keşin, journalist for Özgür Halk (Free People) newspaper, was martyred.

- October 27, 1999, Özgür Gündem newspaper journalist Behzat Arslan was martyred.

- July 9, 2000, the journalist of the newspaper Özgür Halk (Free People), Nesrin Tek, was martyred.

- August 3, 2000, the journalist of the newspaper Özgür Halk (Free People), Asan Aslan, was martyred.

- March 24, 2003, Özgür Gündem Agency journalist Burhan Kara Deniz was martyred.

March 19, 2004, Volkan Arigit, a journalist at the Dijlah News Agency, was martyred.

- July 14, 2004, Idris Atak, journalist for Özgür Halk (Free People) newspaper, was martyred.

On January 10, 2005, Roj TV journalist Tefi Bahdin Karakotek was martyred.

July 19, 2006, Furat News Agency journalist Ayfer Serji was martyred.

- April 1, 2008, Med TV journalist Khalil Aysel was martyred.

- April 4, 2010, Metin Altaş, journalist for Azadiya Welat newspaper (Hurryat al-Watan), was martyred.

- June 29, 2011, the journalist at the Dijlah News Agency DIHA, Mazloum Arinc, was martyred.

- October 14, 2014, distributor Qadir Badou was martyred

- February 26, 2016, Rohat Aktaş, a journalist working for the newspaper Azadiya Welat (Freedom of the Nation), lost his life.

Southern Kurdistan

- August 8, 2014, journalist Deniz Furat was martyred in Makhmour

- August 13, 2016, journalist and Roj News Agency correspondent, Dad Hussein, was kidnapped and assassinated in the city of Dohuk in southern Kurdistan.

On March 23, 2017, journalist Nojian Orhan was martyred in Şengal.

- August 7, 2019, journalist and one of the leaders of the Free Women’s Movement, Shafin Benkol, was martyred in Bahdinan.

- November 25, 2019, one of the leaders of the free press, Dozdar Hamo (Abdul Rahman Hamo), was martyred as a result of an air strike launched by Turkish occupation aircraft on the legitimate defense areas (Media).

On May 27, 2020, member of the Central Committee of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party and icon of the free press, Qasim Ankin, was martyred.

- October 4, 2022 in the city of Sulaymaniyah in the Kurdistan Region, journalist Nakhan Akarsal was martyred.

T/ Satt.

ANHA