Twelve Years Since the Founding of the Kurdistan Journalists Syndicate - Syria

ARK News.. On the 12th anniversary of its founding, the Council of the Kurdistan Journalists Syndicate - Syria issued a statement noting that the state of journalism in Syria has not improved as hoped, despite a superficial sense of openness. In recent months, many journalists have faced questioning, security investigations, and restrictions on their personal freedom.

Full Statement:
“Twelve years ago, around 160 journalists from Western Kurdistan — coming from inside the country, from Europe, and from the Kurdistan Region — gathered in Erbil under the sponsorship of the Kurdistan Regional Government’s Ministry of Culture and Youth. Under the slogan ‘For a Free Press’, they announced the founding of the Kurdistan-Syria Journalists’ Syndicate and elected the late journalist Jwan Mirani as the first president of this media body, forming the first syndicate council.

The syndicate was created to represent the situation of Kurdish journalists, defend them, and engage international media organizations regarding violations committed against them. Under the former Ba’ath regime, journalism faced dire conditions — many journalists lost their lives for their convictions, many were imprisoned, and the general state of journalism in Western Kurdistan was very poor, with journalists subjected to persecution, imprisonment, and exile.

Twelve years later, Syria has completely changed. The Ba’ath regime has fallen, the Assad era has ended, and the country is entering a new chapter. Sadly, however, the state of journalism in Syria has not improved as much as expected. Many journalists have recently been subjected to questioning, security investigations, and personal restrictions — a situation that persists in Western Kurdistan under the current self-administration as well.

Today, we honor the memory of the first president of the Syndicate, the late Jwan Mirani, who passed away on 13 March 2015.

On this anniversary, we express our hope that the right circumstances will soon allow us to freely resume our activities in our homeland and hold our second congress on Syrian soil.”

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