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Journalist Nedim Oruç was detained today while covering a protest in the Kurdish-populated southeastern province of Şırnak. The protest was organized to denounce recent attacks on Kurdish neighborhoods in Syria’s Aleppo.
Oruç, a reporter for the Kurdish news outlet Ajansa Welat, was beaten by security forces before being taken away in an armored vehicle along with his camera, Mezopotamya Agency (MA) reported.
The detention occurred in theCizre district as youths held a demonstration featuring fireworks and slogans such as “Bijî Berxwedana Rojava” (Long Live Rojava). Clashes between protesters and police continued in side streets after the journalist’s detention.
Background
The demonstrations in Turkey follow a military offensive launched by the Damascus government in early January to seize control of the Kurdish-held neighborhoods of Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh in Aleppo. Syrian government forces captured Ashrafieh on Jan 9 and have since entered parts of Sheikh Maqsoud.
The escalation in Syria comes as integration talks between the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which controls northern and eastern Syria, and the Damascus government have stalled.
Turkey has expressed support for the Damascus government’s actions. Ankara has publicly supported the Syrian government’s position and maintains that the SDF should dissolve itself, citing the ongoing Kurdish peace process within Turkey. Various Kurdish groups across Turkey have organized protests in response to the ongoing conflict in Aleppo.
The SDF is demanding a decentralized administrative system for Syria.
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(VK)