2026-06-23T16:17:40+00:00
Shafaq News- Al-Sulaymaniyah
Two organizations focused on press freedom and journalists’ rights have criticized remarks made by Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) leader Bafel Talabani toward a journalist during a visit to St. Joseph Church in Al-Sulaymaniyah, calling for an official apology over the incident.
The controversy arose when a group of journalists requested a press conference to ask questions before the conference began. One journalist asked Talabani about recent developments in relations between the PUK and the New Generation Movement (Al-jeel Al-Jadeed), an opposition political party in the Kurdistan Region. Talabani replied, “This is not the time for New Generation, you camel.”
The Metro Center for Journalists’ Rights and Advocacy, based in the Kurdistan Region, said that Talabani’s remarks toward journalists constituted “a shameful act,” adding that “the silence of his aides and accompanying officials during the incident is an additional source of embarrassment.”
Metro noted that it had expected a response from within the PUK or an initiative by one of its institutions to apologize for the incident, “but no such action had been taken.”
The center stressed that solidarity among journalists is a professional necessity and urged media workers “to take clear positions against insults directed at journalists and their profession, regardless of political considerations.”
PUK is one of the Kurdistan Region’s main political parties. Led by Bafel Talabani, it secured 23 seats in the 2024 Kurdistan parliamentary elections, making it the second-largest bloc in the legislature.
In a separate statement, Baghdad-based Al-Nakhil Center for Rights and Press Freedoms condemned “Talabani’s verbal attack,” indicating that the PUK leader responded to the journalist with a phrase that lacked “the most basic standards of civility, ethics, respect for human dignity, and respect for journalistic work.”
“Such conduct reflects a serious deterioration in relations between public officials and journalists… it demonstrates a lack of understanding of the nature of media work and the freedoms guaranteed by law.”
Source: Shafaq News
