Arwa Damon, one of CNN’s senior international correspondents, announced that she would be leaving the network.
Damon shared her goodbye email to her fellow CNN coworkers in an Instagram post on Thursday. In that e-mail, she recounted her CNN origin story where she left a Turkish textile company to go to Baghdad, Iraq, where she met Kevin Flowers, CNN’s Baghdad bureau chief, asking him to give her a chance.
She also thanked many former and current CNN employees for helping and guiding her during her time at CNN. Among those thanked included former CNN International executive vice president Tony Maddox, former news anchor Jim Clancy and current news anchors Michael Holmes and Anderson Cooper.
Damon, who is based at CNN’s bureau in Istanbul, has been with CNN since 2003, focusing her reporting on the Middle East and North Africa regions. She won a George Foster Peabody Award for reporting on the fall of ISIS in Iraq and Syria and three Emmys for her coverage in Iraq and Syria, including Outstanding News Special for Return to Mosul.
She is the third key international on-air personality to depart from CNN within the past two months. Robyn Curnow and Hala Gorani, news anchors on CNN International, also left the network.
Damon did not provide any details about what her next move would be.