LOC21:12
18:12 GMT
(with: SEC-TURKEY-SYRIA-ASSASSINATION)
BRUSSELS, Sept 22 (KUNA) -- The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) strongly condemned on Friday "the brutal murder" of two Syrian journalists opposed to the regime of Bashar Al Assad in Turkey.
Dr. Orouba Barakat and her daughter Hala Barakat were murdered in their Istanbul apartment last night, said an IFJ statement.
Barakat, 60, was a writer, filmmaker, journalist and activist who had fled her native Syria in the 1980s. Hala, 22, was a journalist for Orient TV. Orouba was member of the Syrian opposition national council and critic of the Syrian government,
Hala reported for Orient Net and various other media outlets, and was also active in campaigning for human rights to be upheld in Syria.
"As we mourn the tragic loss of Hala and Orouba Barakat today, we also call on the Turkish authorities to make sure that their killers are brought to justice as swiftly as possible", said IFJ General Secretary Anthony Bellanger.
Orouba and Hala's deaths mark three Syrian journalists killed this year in Turkey, he noted in a statement.
The Brussels-based IFJ represents 600,000 journalists in 139 countries worldwide. (end)
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