Firat News Agency

Firat News Agency (ANF) (Kurdish: Ajansa Nûçeyan a Firatê‎, Turkish: Fırat Haber Ajansı) is a Kurdish news agency[2] that gathers and broadcasts news from the Middle East, broadly concerning Kurdish matters. The news agency has offices in Amsterdam[3] and journalists around the world.

Firat News Agency
Founded2005[1]
LanguageTurkish, Kurdish, English, Arabic, German, Spanish, Russian and Persian
HeadquartersAmsterdam, Netherlands
Websitehttps://anfenglish.com

It has been variously described as pro-Kurdish,[4] pro-PKK,[2] or PKK-affiliated.[5][6] CBC and Reuters have described ANF as being "close" to the PKK,[7][8] and Deutsche Welle states the two entities have "links".[9] The BBC have alternately labelled ANF "pro-Kurdish"[10] and "pro-PKK".[11]

Because of ANF's alleged links with the PKK, access to its websites from Turkey has been repeatedly blocked by Turkish courts, its social media accounts active in the country have been closed,[1] and its journalists have been detained in Turkey.

Arrest of Maxime Azadi

On 15 December 2016, French-Turkish ANF journalist Maxime Azadi was arrested in Belgium after Turkey issued an Interpol Red Notice for his arrest. The ANF appealed for his immediate release.[12]

The arrest was condemned by press freedom groups, who said the incident highlighted Turkey's crackdown on press freedoms following the 2016 coup attempt.[13] The UK-based NGO Fair Trials described his arrest as Turkish misuse of Interpol's Red Notice system,[14] and the Council of Europe's Platform for the Protection of Journalism and Safety of Journalists released a media freedom alert pertaining to the arrest.[15]

The European Federation of Journalists released a statement, stating "We are very concerned about this arrest which constitutes a dangerous precedent. More than 120 journalists are behind bars in Turkey, where the authorities do not hesitate to abuse anti-terrorist laws to suppress the opposition press. Belgium and other European states should not be complicit in the massive purges ordered by the Turkish government. Dozens of Turkish and Kurdish journalists exiled in Europe would be in a situation of dramatic insecurity".[16]

On 23 December, Azadi was released on bail,[17] leading the Council of Europe to mark the case resolved, concluding it "was no longer an active threat to media freedom".[15]

References
  1. "ANF's Twitter account issued 10th ban from Ankara". ANF News. January 23, 2018. Retrieved January 11, 2019.
  2. Tuysuz, Gul; Watson, Ivan (April 25, 2013). "Kurdish rebels to start withdrawing from Turkey in May". CNN. Retrieved January 11, 2019.
  3. "Kurdish channels still experiencing broadcasting attacks". ANF News. January 23, 2018. Retrieved January 11, 2019.
  4. "Turkey's PKK Militants End Cease-fire". VOA. November 5, 2015. Retrieved January 11, 2019.
  5. Online, Spiegel (July 15, 2008). "Attack on Mt. Ararat: Germany Becomes a Target of the Kurdish PKK - International". Der Spiegel. Retrieved January 11, 2019.
  6. "Turkey claims 12 PKK killed in raid, Kurds say they were civilians". Kurdish Institute. January 11, 2016. Retrieved January 11, 2019.
  7. "Kurdish PKK militants end unilateral ceasefire in Turkey - CBC News". CBC. November 5, 2015. Retrieved January 11, 2019.
  8. Editorial, Reuters (March 23, 2018). "Kurdish militant PKK group withdrawing from Iraq's Sinjar". U.S. Retrieved January 11, 2019.
  9. "Belgian authorities raid houses and businesses associated with the PKK - 04.03.2010". DW.COM. Retrieved January 11, 2019.
  10. "Turkish and Kurdish press bid farewell to arms". BBC News. March 22, 2013. Retrieved January 11, 2019.
  11. "Suicide attack hits Turkish troops". BBC News. August 2, 2015. Retrieved January 11, 2019.
  12. "Statement on the arrest of ANF News Director in Belgium". ANF News. January 23, 2018. Retrieved January 11, 2019.
  13. "French-Turkish reporter's arrest in Belgium shows extent of Turkey's press crackdown". France 24. December 22, 2016. Retrieved January 11, 2019.
  14. "Letter to INTERPOL General Secretary on Turkish Writers" (PDF). Fair Trials. Retrieved 10 January 2019.
  15. "Belgium Arrests a Kurdish Journalist at Turkey's Request". Platform to promote the protection of journalism and safety of journalists. December 15, 2016. Retrieved January 11, 2019.
  16. "La Belgique arrête un journaliste kurde sur requête de la Turquie". Fédération européenne des journalistes (in French). December 20, 2016. Retrieved January 11, 2019.
  17. Centre, European; Freedom, Media (December 23, 2016). "Turkey gets head of Kurdish news agency arrested in Belgium". European Centre for Press and Media Freedom. Retrieved January 11, 2019.
  • Official website (in Kurdish, Turkish, English, Arabic, Persian, German, Spanish, and Russian)
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