Press freedom watchdog criticizes suspension of Kurdish reporter in northeast Syria

However, in her report, Fatah said the soldiers were “killed” and not “martyred.”

The autonomous administration suspended her for two months “after she offended martyrs and their families,” a statement read. Rudaw defended Fatah’s actions, saying “martyr” is a “term with strong religious and political significance which is rarely used in news reporting.”

The suspension comes at a time when Kurdish parties in Syria are trying to mend their long-damaged relations. While the Kurdish National Council’s Rojava peshmerga has been prevented from returning to fight in Syria by the PYD, Turkey’s invasion of northeast Syria in October helped prompt the two sides to talk. There are now negotiations between a KDP ally, the Kurdish National Council, and the PYD.

The PYD has a communalist, left-wing ideology derived from the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in Turkey. Turkey believes the YPG is a PKK offshoot, and this prompted Ankara to attack YPG positions near its border in October.

But the KDP has an oil-based relationship with Turkey and typically has a more politically conservative base, factors that have led to bad relations between the KDP and the PYD/YPG for years.

The Kurdish National Council, meanwhile, is more supportive of the Syrian opposition.

The autonomous administration’s decision created a debate on Kurdish social media. Some accused Rudaw of hypocrisy for using “martyr” to describe its peshmerga forces who died in Iraqi Kurdistan. Others criticized the suspension for violating press freedom.