Şerif Turgut is a Turkish journalist and the first woman

war correspondent A war correspondent is a journalist who covers stories first-hand from a war, war zone. War correspondence stands as one of journalism's most important and impactful forms. War correspondents operate in the most conflict-ridden parts of the wor ...

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

, best known for her coverage during the

Bosnian War The Bosnian War ( / Рат у Босни и Херцеговини) was an international armed conflict that took place in Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnia and Herzegovina between 1992 and 1995. Following several earlier violent incid ...

. Şerif Turgut received her master's degree in international politics from

George Washington University The George Washington University (GW or GWU) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally-chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Originally named Columbian College, it was chartered in 1821 by ...

, USA.

Early career

She decided to be a war correspondent when she saw the photographs from the Omarska camp, a death camp in

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

set up and run by the Army of Republika Srpska in the first months of Bosnian War. She went to Bosnia on her own as a freelance journalist. Intended in the beginning to stay ten days only, she remained in Bosnia for almost five years when her life changed after she witnessed the horror there.

Bosnian War coverage

She reported for the Turkish television channel ATV from the Bosnian War, at which more than hundred thousand people were killed between 1992 and 1995. Turgut went on to cover the

Kosovo War The Kosovo War (; sr-Cyrl-Latn, Косовски рат, Kosovski rat) was an armed conflict in Kosovo that lasted from 28 February 1998 until 11 June 1999. It ...

Iraq War The Iraq War (), also referred to as the Second Gulf War, was a prolonged conflict in Iraq lasting from 2003 to 2011. It began with 2003 invasion of Iraq, the invasion by a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition, which ...

and many other conflicts including the Algerian Civil War,

Western Sahara War The Western Sahara War (, , ) was an armed conflict between the Sahrawi indigenous Polisario Front and Morocco from 1975 to 1991 (and Mauritania from 1975 to 1979), being the most significant phase of the Western Sahara conflict. The confl ...

and

Second Chechen War Names The Second Chechen War is also known as the Second Chechen Campaign () or the Second Russian Invasion of Chechnya from the Chechens, Chechen insurgents' point of view.Федеральный закон № 5-ФЗ от 12 января 19 ...

. During the Kosovo War, she also helped immigrants, who fled their home to settle in Turkey, by giving information about their relatives living still in Kosovo.

UN

She served more than three years as the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

Head of Public Information Office for Central Liberia. During this time, she was involved in creation and management of information dissemination mechanisms in the fields such as

demilitarization Demilitarisation or demilitarization may mean the reduction of state armed forces; it is the opposite of militarisation in many respects. For instance, the demilitarisation of Northern Ireland entailed the reduction of British security and milita ...

social integration Social integration is the process during which newcomers or minorities are incorporated into the social structure of the host society. Social integration, together with economic integration and identity integration, are three main dimensions o ...

, political rehabilitation, elections and post conflict transition.

Honors

She received more than ten national and international awards for her journalism achievement during the Bosnian War. In 2002, Turgut became an International Knight Fellow at

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

. Şerif Turgut featured in the documentary television series titled ''Savaşı Anlatan Kadınlar'' (literally: "Women War Correspondents") broadcast by the Turkish channel TRT on the

International Women's Day International Women's Day (IWD) is celebrated on 8 March, commemorating women's fight for equality and liberation along with the women's rights movement. International Women's Day gives focus to issues such as gender equality, reproductive righ ...

in 2013.

Personal life

She was a friend of Spanish war correspondent Miguel Gil Moreno de Mora, with whom she went to

Srebrenica Srebrenica ( sr-cyrl, Сребреница, ) is a town and municipality in Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is a small mountain town, with its main industry being salt mining and a nearby spa. During the Bosnian War in 1995, Srebr ...

right after the 1995 massacre there. Miguel Gil Moreno was later shot to death in the Sierra Leone Civil War. During her service in the

Second Liberian Civil War The Second Liberian Civil War was a civil war in the West African nation of Liberia that lasted from 1999 to 2003. The war was mainly caused by transition failures after the First Civil War, especially the peace-building process which would res ...

, she became a friend of the war correspondents Tim Hetherington from England and Chris Hondros from the U.S., who were killed in the

2011 Libyan Civil War The Libyan civil war, also known as the First Libyan Civil War and Libyan Revolution, was an armed conflict in 2011 in the North African country of Libya that was fought between forces loyal to Colonel Muammar Gaddafi and rebel groups that were ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Turgut, Serif Date of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people) George Washington University alumni Turkish war correspondents Turkish women journalists Turkish television journalists Sabah (newspaper) people War correspondents of the Iraq War Stanford University Knight Fellows Turkish officials of the United Nations Living people Year of birth missing (living people)