Several thousand people from all over Europe marched in Paris on Saturday in tribute to three Kurdish activists murdered almost ten years ago to the day in the capital. This annual march, which has brought together the Kurdish community since 2013, comes a few days after the shock of the assassination, in the center of Paris, of three Kurds by a 69-year-old man, who confessed while in police custody to have acted by ” hatred that has become pathological” of foreigners.
Supervised by a very present order service, the procession set off at the end of the morning from the Gare du Nord behind a black banner crossed out with photos of the three militants of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) killed in 2013 and the slogan “the Turkish State has massacred 3 Kurds in Paris again”. According to the organizers, “at least 25,000 demonstrators” are taking part in the march.
The shadow of the Turkish secret services
“Nothing can stop the freedom of the Kurds”, “Truth and justice”, “We want justice”, chanted the demonstrators, the first of whom rallied to Republic Square at midday, passing through the places of triple murders of 2013 and 2022. In the first, on the night of January 9 to 10, 2013, activists Sakine Cansiz, 54, Fidan Dogan, 28, and Leyla Saylemez, 24, were killed by multiple bullets in the head inside the Kurdistan Information Center (CIK) in Paris.
Their presumed assassin, Omer Güney, was quickly imprisoned but he died at the end of 2016 in prison, a few weeks before the opening of his trial. The French justice investigation, which had pointed to the “involvement” of the Turkish intelligence services (MIT) without, however, designating sponsors, is continuing. MIT has officially denied any involvement.
The triple murder committed on December 23 aroused the anger of the Kurds of France who, despite the statements of the suspect and the first elements of the investigation delivered by the prosecution, continue to implicate Turkey. Violent incidents marred a gathering of the Kurdish community in Paris on December 24.