ANKARA, October 15 (RIA Novosti) – Reporters Without Borders has condemned the killing of Kadri Bagdu, a distributor of the Kurdish Azadiya Welat newspaper, in southeastern Turkey, the organization said in a statement.
"We offer our heartfelt condolences to Kadri Bagdu's colleagues and family," Johann Bihr, the head of the Reporters Without Borders Eastern Europe and Central Asia desk, said Tuesday.
"A full and impartial investigation must be carried out in order to quickly identify the gunmen [who killed Bagdu] and anyone who gave them their orders. We urge the authorities and all other parties involved to curb the mounting tension and prevent this targeting murder from leading to a new spiral of violence," Bihr added.
46-year-old Kadri Bagdu was killed by two unidentified individuals on a motorcycle who opened fire at Bagdu during his distribution shift on Tuesday in Seyhan, a city in Turkey's southeastern province of Adana.
Another Azadiya Welat worker, Bisar Durgut, was assaulted with a knife last week, during clashes between Kurds and radical Islamists in the region.
On Monday, the Kurdistan Democratic party confirmed that militants from the Islamic State (IS), a radical Sunni group, have executed Kurdish journalist Muhanad Akidi. IS militants kidnapped Akidi two months ago in Mosul.
Mass rallies broke out in Turkey last week, as the country's Kurdish population protested against the government's noninterference policy toward developments in the Syrian border town of Kobani, besieged by IS militants.
More than 400 people have died in clashes between IS and Kurdish fighters in Kobani, according to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
The IS, also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS) or the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), has been fighting the Syrian government since 2012. In June 2014, the militants extended their activity to northern and western Iraq.
The IS is known for its extreme violence, including against journalists. Among IS victims are American reporter James Foley and American-Israeli journalist Steven Sotloff.
