US journalist, juror at Iranian festival dies in ‘suspicious’ circs

Turkey’s police have launched an investigation into the “suspicious” death of Andre Vltchek, an American journalist and a jury member at the 16th edition of Iran’s Resistance International Film Festival (RIFF), in Istanbul.

Vltchek, 57, died in the early hours of Tuesday while he was travelling with his wife Rossie Indira from Turkey’s northern city of Samsun, where they spent nine days to Istanbul inside a rented chauffeured car.

Upon arriving at their hotel in Istanbul, his wife tried to wake him up to tell him they had arrived, but could not do so.

Medical teams who arrived at the scene declared him dead, and the Istanbul chief prosecutor’s office immediately launched an investigation into the death.

According to Turkish media reports, police recorded his case as a “suspicious death.”

Vltchek described himself on his website as a novelist, philosopher, filmmaker and investigative journalist as well as a “revolutionary, internationalist and globetrotter who fights against Western Imperialism and the Western regime imposed on the world.”

He covered tens of war zones and conflicts, including in Iraq, Bosnia and Syria.

His books include “On Western Terrorism: From Hiroshima to Drone Warfare”, which he co-authored with linguist and scholar Noam Chomsky.

Vltchek believed that all countries, which resist and stand against imperialism and the Israeli regime, are targeted with terrorist attacks and other measures.

He was scheduled to serve on a jury at the second part of the 16th Resistance International Film Festival in Tehran which will take place in November.

The 16th edition of the RIFF is taking place on two different dates.

Some of its sections are currently underway in Tehran and will continue until September 27, coinciding with the “Sacred Defense” week – an annual event to commemorate the anniversary of the start of Iraq's imposed war on Iran in the 1980s.

The other sections will be held on November 21-27, coinciding with “Basij” week.

The RIFF, one of the most prestigious international film festivals in Iran, is dedicated to productions on wars and the repercussions of armed conflicts in the world.

It also puts a spotlight on the resistance of the Palestinian people against the Zionist regime, Daesh and their terrorist attacks in the region, and the world’s tyrants and their backing of Daesh.

SQ/MG