Foreign Correspondent: The Peacemaker of Syria
She was known as the Jasmine of Syria, an idealistic young woman who believed in a better future for her war-torn country.
After the Kurds fought and defeated ISIS in north east Syria – with the help of the US – Khalaf joined a grassroots movement that was working to rebuild Syria as a democracy.
US troops stayed on in the region to help keep the peace, ensuring that ISIS fighters did not regroup.
Then late last year, Trump made the shock announcement he was pulling US troops out of the region, leaving their former allies, the Kurds, unprotected. Turkey struck immediately, invading north east Syria and attacking the Kurdish forces it labelled as terrorists.
In the days that followed, Hevrin Khalaf and her driver were pulled out of their van on a main road and brutally murdered.
Reporter Yalda Hakim travels into north east Syrian to investigate the deaths of Hevrin Khalaf and her driver. The killings looked like a political assassination but the Turks denied responsibility. So, who killed Hevrin Khalaf? And why?
Yalda Hakim speaks to Khalaf’s mother and her political colleagues. She interviews a team of volunteers investigating the killings. And she speaks to local journalists who are tracking down the identities of militia members who were in the area on the morning of the murders.
The evidence Hakim gathers points to ISIS as being responsible and suggests their return so soon after their so-called Caliphate was defeated last year.
In a compelling program, Yalda Hakim takes us on a disturbing journey into a world few outsiders are able to enter.
“They killed Hevrin to kill her ideas, her legacy and her cause.” Hevrin’s mother Souad
Foreign Correspondent: The Peacemaker of Syria Tuesday at 8pm, 10th March on ABC
