Firat News Agency

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

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.

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.

  1. ^ a b "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. ^ a b 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.