The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemned the attack on the Gav News agency by Iraqi Kurdish security forces and its downing in a written statement.
"If the Kurdish authorities in northern Iraq continue their attacks on institutions and closing their offices, soon there will be nothing left in Iraqi Kurdistan except for the image of a free media," CPJ Middle East and North Africa representative Ignacio Miguel Delgado. said
CPJ called on Kurdish officials in the Kurdistan Region to allow staff to return to their offices and ensure that members of the media can work freely without fear of reprisals.
"We call on the Kurdistan Regional Government to allow Gav News employees to return to their offices immediately and ensure that the press is free to report," Delgado continued.
CPJ says that according to the reports and declarations of local freedom of communication organizations, the Metro Center for the Protection and Rights of Journalists and the Association for the Protection of Freedom of Communication in Iraq, the attack on the Gav News office was carried out as follows:
"On the morning of November 13, 4 members of the security forces belonging to the Kurdistan Democratic Party (PDK) stormed the Gav News office in Duhok and ordered the employees to leave the office and hand over the keys without a court order. They also surrounded the office to prevent entry into the building."
At the same time, CPJ informs that there are no details about the siege of the office or the number of Gav News employees who were present during the siege of the office.
CPJ reports that according to the same sources, the security forces ordered the employees not to speak or comment on the closure of the office with other media outlets and threatened them with arrest if they did so.
In its statement, CPJ drew attention to the comments of the Association for the Protection of Freedom of Information in Iraq.
The association announced that the closure of the Gav News office took place amid a political conflict between Kurdistan Prime Minister Masrur Barzani and his cousin, Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani, who is close to him according to NRT TV channel Gav News.
CPJ notes that Gav News has not posted anything new on its Facebook account or website since November 12.
CPJ also says that they have sent emails to the Kurdistan Regional Government's International Defense Cooperation Coordinator, Dindar Zebari, and Lawk Gafuri, the head of the Kurdistan Regional Government's external media relations office, but neither has yet responded to the emails. .
At the end of the statement, CPJ points out that it has sent a message to Gav New through the phone app, but has not received a response.
Gavtv
Gav News It is a multilingual news agency and delivers political, economic and social news from Kurdistan, Iraq and the Middle East to the public.
Kurdistan region has become an important center of political and economic developments in the Middle East, that is why has attracted the attention of the journalists of Gav and aims to reach the public with the right and impartial news from the region. a number of expert journalists from different districts of Kurdistan work for Gav and main office in Duhok. Gav makes special news in Iraqi Kurdistan. Gav provides photographs of expert photographers who documenting important developments and events in Kurdistan. Gav is connecting with all those agencies, journalists, and international agencies that focus on the region.
Gav provides news online in Kurdish Sorani and Kurmanji, English. Their websites covers news in Kurdistan, the Middle East, and internationally. Additionally, Gav provides coverage of culture, sports, and economy in Kurdistan and abroad. It also offers its readers a section for original interviews, as well as transcriptions of interviews after they've been aired on the television network. The network also provides readers with regular analysis and opinion pieces covering relevant issues in the Kurdistan Region and the Middle East.