ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Kurdistan Region’s president and prime minister on Saturday expressed their complete support for the freedom of the press on the official day for Kurdish journalism, 125 years after the first Kurdish newspaper was issued.
“I reiterate my full support for journalists, freedom of the press, freedom of expression, freedom of the pen and freedom of writing, which is the main foundation of any living, developed society,” Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani said. “The promotion of democracy, freedom, and the protection of human rights must be preserved.”
"Kurdistan," the first Kurdish-language newspaper, was first issued on April 22, 1898 in Cairo by prominent Kurdish writer and journalist Miqdad Madhat Badirkhan. It was published in the Kurmanji dialect.
The Kurdistan Region’s president urged journalists in the region to report news accurately and “perform their duties properly and within the framework of journalistic ethics” on the occasion in order to properly assess and correct any potential mistakes they make.
Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Region Masrour Barzani congratulated the Region’s journalists on the occasion.
“The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) will continue to support freedom of the press and provide a healthy environment for journalists to work freely,” he said, calling on journalists to follow international standards and conduct their work ethically.
The prime minister stressed that the “media should not become a platform for spreading extremist ideas, inciting violence, and insulting people, national values, and symbols” but should rather work to promote coexistence and defend the Region “as a legal and constitutional entity.”
The US Consulate General in Erbil also congratulated the Kurdistan Region on the occasion, saying that Washington will “continue to support media freedom, free, fair, and professional news coverage” in the region.
In 2021, the Kurdistan Region’s parliament designated April 22 as the official day for Kurdish journalism.
Freedom of the press in the Kurdistan Region has been constantly questioned by local and international media watchdogs. The KRG have repeatedly faced harsh criticism for their treatment of journalists as well as for imposing restrictive measures on the press.
An Amnesty International report in late March accused Kurdish authorities of repressing freedom of expression and arbitrarily arresting journalists and critics.
A week before the Amnesty report, the US State Department human rights report also blasted Iraqi and Kurdish authorities and said that they have arrested suspects without warrants and held detainees under duress for extended periods.
However, the KRG soon issued a strong response and blasted the US report for perceived inaccuracies.
“This report does not represent the view of a superpower like the US on the Kurdistan Region at all,” Dindar Zebari, the KRG’s coordinator for international advocacy, said during a press conference.
In January, the US-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) criticized KRG in an annual report for using “vaguely worded laws to target critics for expressing criticism and opinions they object to,” referring to the arrests of journalists and activists during antigovernment protests in the Kurdistan Region’s cities, mainly Sulaimani.
In response, the KRG hit back at HRW and said it was a “regional exemplar for essential democratic elements, including the right of freedom of expression and media.”
Dozens of people, including journalists, were arrested during anti-government protests over unpaid wages in Duhok in 2020.
Metro Center for Journalists Rights and Advocacy, a local media watchdog, said in January that over 400 violations were committed against journalists and media outlets in the Kurdistan Region in 2022.
