Aktaş was working as a news editor for the Azadiya Welat in the southeastern Turkish town, Cizre.[3] Aktaş was covering the protests, riots and military conflict in Cizre, it was one of the several areas where security forces were very heavily present.[2][3] There were many groups of militants fighting for the banned Kurdistan Workers' Party or formerly known as PKK and this was causing the area to be extremely tense. Kurdish groups were claiming that many people had been burned in the same basement in Cizre. There was a 24-hour curfew installed for the town because of the danger that was present.[1]