RAJIN pledges to continue struggle in footsteps of Gulistan, Hêro

The Coordination of Free Women’s Media (RAJIN) issued a statement today, commemorating the two journalists, Gulistan Tara and Hêro Bahadîn, who were martyred on August 23, 2024, in Sulaymaniyah, Southern Kurdistan, as a result of a drone attack carried out by the Turkish occupation state. The statement read:

"The pioneers of free journalism, Gulistan Tara and Hêro Bahadîn, were martyred a year ago, on August 23, 2024, after a drone belonging to the Turkish occupation state targeted the car that was carrying them in the Said Sadiq district of Sulaymaniyah, Southern Kurdistan. We in the Coordination of Free Women’s Media remember with utmost appreciation and respect our two comrades, martyrs of free journalism, and once again renew our loyalty to their struggle. As seekers of truth, they became a beacon lighting our path.

Their assassination was not a coincidence

Gulistan Tara was a revolutionary in free journalism. She began her quest for truth in 2000, carried out practical work in many different arenas, and became the voice of the Kurdish people and of women. She exposed the policies of special warfare imposed upon them and those complicit in it, revealed oppression and poverty, tore apart the webs of lies, and unveiled the truth. As a freedom-seeker, she sacrificed her life for the freedom of her people. Hêro Bahadîn, too, as a young journalist from Sulaymaniyah at the age of 27, listened to women’s suffering and documented their lives. She was an active and determined journalist who pursued truth and justice. Their assassination was not by chance. The car was targeted because everyone inside was working in free journalism. Fascism distorts and obscures the truth, ignores it, suppresses it, and in this way sustains itself.

We call on international powers to hold the perpetrators accountable

Our comrades Gulistan Tara and Hêro Bahadîn stood up against all threats and attacks. They continued their pursuit of truth and justice despite dangers, exposed the Turkish attacks, as well as the policies of the Kurdistan Regional Government and the Iraqi government during difficult times of war. They tore away the filthy veils of special war policies and lies. The purpose of targeting them was to conceal the truth, but the truth resurfaced. Violations of the rules of war and collaboration with the enemy were exposed. In light of the truths revealed by our martyrs of free journalism, we call upon international powers to hold the perpetrators accountable.

We will embrace their hopes and aspirations

Such attacks on the tradition of free journalism are neither the first nor the last. Being the free voice of the Kurdish people and of free journalism does not only mean reporting on the Kurdish people’s experiences but also living them. Following in the footsteps of Gulistan Tara and Hêro Bahadîn, many journalists were martyred in both Southern Kurdistan and Rojava over the past year.

Nevertheless, not a single one of their pens has fallen to the ground. As the successors of Gulistan Tara and Hêro Bahadîn, who entrusted us with the pen they inherited from Gurbetelli Ersöz, Nagihan Akarsel, Nujiyan Erhan, and Deniz Fırat to Cihan Bilgin, we will write with their pens, speak their language, see through their lenses, and strengthen their struggle, which has not ended. With the power and determination we draw from them, we will continue our struggle resolutely to achieve the democratic and free society they envisioned. We remember them once again with love, respect, and gratitude, and affirm our pledge to embrace their hopes and aspirations."

 A-H 

ANHA