ERBIL — The current stage in the Kurdistan Region requires a real and professional journalism more than ever to serve the highest national interests, said Prime Minister Masrour Barzani.

The remarks were made in a statement to mark the 123rd anniversary of the first Kurdish-language newspaper and the anniversary of the Kurdistan Journalists’ Syndicate, which is designated as the Kurdish Journalism Day.

“On Kurdish Journalism Day, I extend my warmest congratulations to journalists across Kurdistan. Today, we honor the important work of journalists through history to promote the Kurdish cause and rights,” PM Barzani wrote on Twitter.

“I reiterate our support to a free press,” he added, saying that journalism and media sector have significantly developed throughout the past few decades, in which hundreds of media organizations work freely across the Kurdistan Region.