For journalists fleeing Islamic State, Turkey ‘is as dangerous as Syria’
For the past two years, activists and journalists seeking refuge from Islamic State repression in Raqqa would take sanctuary across the border in southern Turkey, setting up safe houses and offices, and darting back to Syria regularly with camera equipment and other vital supplies.
But that sanctuary is now under threat.
The release this month of a video show[s] the killing in Raqqa of five men Islamic State accused of collaborating with journalists in Turkey.
The murders in Turkey represent a broadening of Islamic State’s strategy of silencing dissent by targeting journalists.
Image: Pictures of filmmaker Naji Jerf are held up at his funeral in Gaziantep in December. Syrian media activists based in Turkey say the murder of Jerf and two other journalists makes the country feels less secure. (STR/AFP)