Presstv The Turkish intelligence agency has accused the Press TV correspondent in Turkey of spying probably due to her coverage of Ankara’s stance on ISIL atrocities in the Syrian Kurdish town of Kobani and the recent protests in Turkey.
As heavy clashes rage on in and around Kobani, the Ankara government is preventing some journalists from reporting the developments on the ground in the border region.
Press TV correspondent Serena Shim said on Friday that Ankara has accused her of spying probably due to some of the stories she has covered about Turkey’s stance on the ISIL terrorists in Kobani and its surroundings.
Shim said she was among the few journalists obtaining stories of militants infiltrating into Syria through the Turkish border, adding that she had received images from militants crossing the Turkish border into Syria in World Food Organization and other NGOs’ trucks.
“I think it’s definitely because of the reporting about Syria,” Shim said, pointing to her reports about “the so-called Free Syrian Army going in [Syria] and catching these Takfiri militants and getting their passport stamps and getting first-hand information that they were actually inside while Turkey was still hiding this.”
The Turkish government alleges that “I am spying and that I am working with the Turkish opposition but it’s only logical that I would speak with the Turkish opposition just the same way I would speak with other parties … because that’s my job,” she added.
She flatly rejected accusations against her, saying she was “surprised” at this accusation “because I have nothing to hide and I have never done anything aside my job.”
Kobani and its surroundings have been under attack since mid-September, with the ISIL militants capturing dozens of nearby Kurdish villages.
Turkey has been accused of backing ISIL militants in Syria.