|
Iraqi Kurdistan expel Turkish reporter
over president Barzani report
27.11.2007
|
|
|
|
Iraqi
Kurds expel Turkish journalist from Iraqi Kurdistan
region after he refuses to name sources in anonymous
report
November
27, 2007
Erbil-Hewler, Kurdistan region 'Iraq', -- A
Turkish journalist who reported that Massoud Barzani
Iraq's Kurdistan president personally escorted two
Turkey's Kurdish PKK rebel commanders to Europe for
eventual extradition to Turkey was expelled from
Kurdistan 'northern Iraq' on Monday for publishing
"false news," the semiautonomous Kurdistan
government said.
The journalist for Ihlas news agency, Sadiq Kahraman,
cited anonymous sources in his Nov. 24 report saying
Massoud Barzani had accompanied two senior Kurdish
rebel commanders on a military plane to a European
country. The report said U.S. or Iraqi Kurdistan
authorities preferred the two be extradited through
a third country.
Saveen Dizayee, head of foreign relations for
Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), denied the report
and said Kahraman was being deported for his role in
publishing "false news that escalates the situation
with Turkey," which has long been angered that
Kurdish rebels seek haven in northern Iraq while
launching attacks on Turkish soldiers.
Ihlas said Iraqi Kurdish officials came to the news
agency's office on Sunday and demanded he name his
sources.
"We can't name our sources, and we believe our
sources. I have been working in Iraq for a long time
and we are under pressure," Kahraman said Monday,
according to Ihlas. He said the rebels, known by
their Kurdish acronym PKK, have also threatened the
news agency.
The report by Sadik Kahraman, working for the Ihlas
News Agency (IHA), received wide coverage in the
Turkish media. He reported that president Barzani
last week took two PKK leaders, Cemil Bayik and
Murat Karayilan, on a military plane from Erbil to
an airbase used by the US military in Incirlik in
the southern Anatolian province of Adana. The three
then took off from Incirlik airbase on another
military plane and went to a NATO base in Italy, the
IHA report said.
"Reports about Barzani are groundless, and they are
lies. He is on a private visit in Europe. He will be
back in a few days," Dizayee told the Cihan news
agency, describing the media reports as "comic
scenarios."
Dizayee said yesterday the report is in violation of
journalistic principles and constitutes defamation.
"The government has decided that the reporter should
be expelled from the region since he has led to
tension at a heated and sensitive period of time in
relations with Turkey. He left the region today," he
added. Kahraman was taken to the Iraqi-Turkish
border accompanied by security officials, Cihan
reported.
AP | todayszaman com
Top |
Kurd Net
does not take credit for and is not responsible for the content of news
information on this page
|
® 