The deceased have been identified as Hala Barakat and Orouba Barakat.

Both the Barakats were close friends with American humanitarian aid worker Kayla Mueller, who was taken hostage by ISIS in Aleppo, Syria in 2013 and killed one-and-a-half years later.

Police said that they have started an investigation but have made no arrest so far due to the lack of suspect.

Other sources have however pointed fingers towards the Assad regime, as it was common knowledge that the Barakat women openly defied the Syrian President.

The daughter, Hala, was a freelance journalist who worked with Orient TV, TRT World and ABC News, while her mother Orouba was active in the Syrian Opposition Council, a group of Syrian expatriates who stand against the regime of Bashar al-Assad in Damascus, according to ABC News.

Police said that they were strangled to death and later doused in a chemical to delay the decomposition of the flesh.

The duo's death has been condoled by the US and Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) Europe.

"The United States is deeply saddened by the deaths of Arouba and Hala Barakat. Hala served as a journalist for Orient News and we remember the courageous work of her mother, Arouba, a Syrian activist who reported on the Syrian regime’s atrocities. The United States condemns the perpetrators of these murders and we will closely follow the investigation,' the statement by US Department of State read.

In its statement, CPJ urged, "We call on Turkish authorities to find those responsible for the murders of Halla Barakat and Orouba Barakat, and bring them to justice." 

"Turkey must ensure the protection of Syrian journalists who have fled to the country seeking safety," it added.

Image: Facebook