Authorities shut down NRT television offices over blurring Barzani image

ERBIL — Security forces on Tuesday closed the main offices of NRT television in Erbil and Duhok, ordering staff to stop working and evacuate after the channel blurred the image of late Kurdish leader Mullah Mustafa Barzani in news broadcasts.

Erbil Gov. Omid Khoshnaw told Ava Media that NRT had “for some time shown disrespect toward national symbols,” citing a 1997 parliamentary decision requiring the display of Mustafa Barzani’s image in government institutions. He said the channel blurred Barzani’s image in news coverage and the matter became a formal complaint referred to the courts.

“Based on Decision No. 7, the judge ruled to close all NRT offices in the Kurdistan Region,” Khoshnaw said. “After the court decision reached us in Erbil, we referred it to the police, and the police carried out its duty.”

Khoshnaw said NRT’s Erbil office management had been summoned previously and shown images and documents related to the case. “The office official said he was not aware and that it was not within his authority,” he said, adding that later explanations were “not convincing.”

964media has independently verified that NRT blurred images of Barzani in multiple broadcasts including coverage aired Feb. 2.

Four NRT sources declined to explain the rationale behind the blurring.

Hersh Qadir, director of NRT’s Erbil office, told 964media that police arrived and ordered employees to leave. “They told us they had a court order to close the office,” he said, adding that staff were not allowed to view the order. Security forces remained outside and prevented journalists from removing equipment.

A force linked to the Duhok governorate also entered and closed NRT’s office there. Journalists in Soran, Akre and Zakho were later informed by phone that they were no longer permitted to work. NRT reported that its correspondent in Akre said the channel had been banned from operating in the district under a decision by the district commissioner.

The Kurdistan Region’s Ministry of Culture told NRT it was “not aware of a decision to close NRT’s office in Erbil.”

The Nalia Media Organization, which owns NRT, called the move “a clear assault on journalistic work and journalists in the Kurdistan Region” and urged foreign consulates and press freedom groups to “increase pressure on the authorities.” It said Journalism Law No. 35 of 2007 “does not include any article or clause that allows the closure of media and broadcasting outlets.”

NRT is owned by Shaswar Abdulwahid, leader of the opposition New Generation Movement. Abdulwahid was released from prison in January after more than five months in detention in a case he described as politically motivated. New Generation recently signed an agreement with the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan to unite their parliamentary blocs, forming a 38-seat force in the Kurdistan Parliament.

The closure comes amid months of political deadlock in the Kurdistan Region following the October 2024 elections, which have yet to produce a new regional government. Several opposition parties have said they will remain outside any governing alliance.

NRT has previously aired content critical of the regional government led by the KDP and PUK, and has faced repeated legal and administrative pressure.