Firat News Agency

The Firat News Agency (ANF) (Kurdish: Ajansa Nûçeyan a Firatê, Turkish: Fırat Haber Ajansı) is a Kurdish news agency[3] that gathers and broadcasts news from the Middle East, broadly concerning Kurdish matters. The news agency has offices in Amsterdam[4] and journalists around the world.

Firat News Agency
Formation2005[1]
HeadquartersAmsterdam, Netherlands
Official languages
Turkish, Kurdish (Kurmanji, Sorani, Hawrami and Kirmancki dialects), English, Arabic, German, Spanish, Russian and Persian[2]
Websiteanfenglish.com

It has been variously described as pro-Kurdish,[5] pro-PKK,[3] or PKK-affiliated.[6][7] The CBC and Reuters have described the ANF as being "close" to the PKK,[8][9] and Deutsche Welle states the two entities have "links".[10] The BBC have alternately labelled the ANF "pro-Kurdish"[11] and "pro-PKK".[12]

Because of the 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. In addition, Twitter has blocked the ANF at the request of the Turkish government.

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.[13]

The arrest was condemned by press freedom groups, who said the incident highlighted Turkey's crackdown on press freedoms following the 2016 coup attempt.[14] The UK-based NGO Fair Trials described his arrest as Turkish misuse of Interpol's Red Notice system,[15] 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.[16]

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".[17]

On 23 December that year, Azadi was released on bail,[18] leading the Council of Europe to mark the case resolved, concluding it "was no longer an active threat to media freedom".[16]

References
  1. "ANF's Twitter account issued 10th ban from Ankara". ANF News. 11 September 2018. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
  2. "ANF launches Kirmanckî service". ANF News. 17 September 2018. Retrieved 12 May 2023.
  3. Tuysuz, Gul; Watson, Ivan (25 April 2013). "Kurdish rebels to start withdrawing from Turkey in May". CNN. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
  4. "Kurdish channels still experiencing broadcasting attacks". ANF News. 24 February 2011. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
  5. "Turkey's PKK Militants End Cease-fire". Voice of America. 5 November 2015. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
  6. "Attack on Mt. Ararat: Germany Becomes a Target of the Kurdish PKK - International". Der Spiegel. 15 July 2008. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
  7. "Turkey claims 12 PKK killed in raid, Kurds say they were civilians". Rudaw. 10 January 2016. Retrieved 12 May 2023.
  8. "Kurdish PKK militants end unilateral ceasefire in Turkey". CBC News. Thomson Reuters. 5 November 2015. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
  9. "Kurdish militant PKK group withdrawing from Iraq's Sinjar - Firat news agency". Reuters. 23 March 2018. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
  10. "Belgian authorities raid houses and businesses associated with the PKK". Deutsche Welle. 4 March 2010. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
  11. "Turkish and Kurdish press bid farewell to arms". BBC News. 22 March 2013. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
  12. "Suicide attack hits Turkish troops". BBC News. 2 August 2015. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
  13. "Statement on the arrest of ANF News Director in Belgium". ANF News. 21 December 2016. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
  14. Jacinto, Leela (22 December 2016). "French-Turkish reporter's arrest in Belgium shows extent of Turkey's press crackdown". France 24. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
  15. Russell, Jago; Torner, Carles (25 August 2017). "Letter to INTERPOL General Secretary on Turkish Writers" (PDF). Fair Trials. Retrieved 10 January 2019.
  16. "Belgium Arrests a Kurdish Journalist at Turkey's Request". Platform for the Protection of Journalism and Safety of Journalists. 21 December 2016. Archived from the original on 22 December 2016. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
  17. "La Belgique arrête un journaliste kurde sur requête de la Turquie". European Federation of Journalists (in French). 20 December 2016. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
  18. "Turkey gets head of Kurdish news agency arrested in Belgium". European Centre for Press and Media Freedom. 23 December 2016. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
  • Official website (in Kurdish, Turkish, English, Arabic, Persian, German, Spanish, and Russian)


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