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By David Meseguer:
Like other colleagues, I also read the Reporters without Borders report dated 1st May on abuses against fellow reporters in Syria´s northeast and I´d also like to comment on the issue as I’ve been reporting from the ground since the beginning of the conflict in March 2011.
First of all, I would like to stress my deepest rejection and concern over any kind of abuse against fellow reporters, either in Syria or elsewhere.
Since the beginning of the Syrian war, I have travelled on four occasions to Kurdish controlled areas in Syria. During all my time in Afrin region, northern Aleppo province, I have never faced any trouble to meet people from all walks of life or political ideas, being always able to move freely around the area. This scenario is very much in the antipodes of the one RSF depicts in its report.
I want to highlight that I don’t support any political actor on the ground. Although the Democratic Union Party (PYD) rules the self-administration in Afrin region, I have had access to interview politicians or activists from the main opposition group, the Kurdish National Council (KNC).
In July 2012, when Assad regime pulled out from the area, I interviewed Kamiran Hasan, the spokesman of the Kurdish Democratic Progressive Party in Syria in the region.
In November 2012 I spoke with Mostafa Raswalik from the Yekity Party (PYDKS) and his opinion appeared in this report.
Mostafa Raswalik also appears in ‘The Silent Revolution’, a documentary about the Kurdish uprising in Syria.
In December 2013 I focused on the autonomy declaration in Kurdish regions of Syria. To get different opinions I talked with Ebdilmecid Sexo, KNC independent member and Kamiran Hasan, from the Kurdish Democratic Progressive Party in Syria, a political formation that attended to the Geneva II peace talks.
http://www.davidmeseguer.com/2014/01/13/la-autonomia-de-kurdistan-occidental-avanza-con-paso-firme/
At that time I also interviewed Mehyeddin Sheikh Ali, the Yekity Party (PYDKS) president.
I like other colleagues call on every journalist who ever visited Kurdish controlled Syria to tell their story. I truly believe that truth can only be unveiled through first hand testimonies.
David Meseguer: Freelance journalist – http://www.davidmeseguer.com/
