Paris: Three dead by shots – riots at demonstration

Nfter the fatal shots fired near a Kurdish cultural center in Paris, clashes broke out between Kurdish demonstrators and the police on Friday. Television footage showed police using tear gas. “A group of people attacked the law enforcement officers and threw projectiles at them. The demonstration, which had been peaceful until then, escalated,” reports a reporter for the French daily newspaper “Le Parisien”.

On Friday, a man fired shots at a Kurdish community center and a nearby restaurant and hair salon. Three people died, three were injured. The alleged perpetrator was arrested and he was also injured. According to Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin, he wanted to attack foreigners. It is unclear whether he explicitly wanted to attack Kurds. French President Emmanuel Macron, on the other hand, spoke of a deliberate attack on Kurds. “The Kurds in France were the target of a vile attack in the middle of Paris,” wrote the head of state on Twitter in the evening. His thoughts are with the victims and their families.

According to the Kurdish Democratic Council in France (CDK-F), the dead and injured were Kurdish activists. The organization spoke of a “terrorist attack” that occurred after numerous Turkish threats. Turkey has long fought Kurdish independence aspirations promoted by the banned Kurdish Workers’ Party PKK and other Kurdish organizations. The CDK-F called for a protest meeting at the site of the attack.

France wants to protect Kurdish meeting places after the attack. Throughout the country, guards should be posted at gathering places of the Kurdish community, said France’s Interior Minister Darmanin. Turkish diplomatic missions in the country should also be protected to prevent counterattacks.

According to information from the public prosecutor’s office, the arrested suspect is a 69-year-old Frenchman. He is said to have injured two migrants with a knife and destroyed several tents in Paris about a year ago. “The possible racist motives of the perpetrator will be the subject of the investigation,” said prosecutor Laure Beccuau.

Reports of shots being fired in the street trigger oppressive memories of the 2015 jihadist attacks in Paris. In this case, however, it is a perpetrator who had been accused of xenophobic violence in the past. He was recently released from custody, the prosecutor said. He is not on the domestic secret service’s list of endangered persons.

Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne described the attack as a “terrible act” and expressed her condolences to the victims’ families. Mayor Anne Hidalgo wrote on Twitter that the suspect was a right-wing extremist. “The Kurdish community, and through it all Parisians, have been targeted by these killings, committed by a far-right activist,” Hidalgo said. “The Kurds, wherever they live, must be able to live in peace and security. More than ever, Paris stands by her in these dark hours.”

The public prosecutor’s office is investigating for murder and serious violence. The crime brigade of the judicial police is initially responsible, not the terror prosecutor’s office, which initially went to the scene of the crime.

“There were seven or eight shots, there was panic”

According to information from the Berlin-based Kurdish Center for Public Relations, a preparatory meeting for a demonstration was taking place in the Paris Kurdish center at the time of the crime. It was not initially clear whether there was actually a connection.

The shots were fired on a small street in the 10th arrondissement. “We saw an old white man who went to the Kurdish center and fired there,” the chef of a nearby restaurant told AFP. The man then fled to a neighboring hairdressing salon. “We took refuge with the staff at the restaurant,” he said.

“I saw two police officers go into a hairdressing salon where two people were lying on the ground, their legs were injured,” said a local resident. “There were seven or eight shots, there was panic,” said an eyewitness.

Emmanuel Grégoire, who works for the Paris mayor, thanked the security forces for their quick action. His thoughts are with the victims and witnesses of the attack. The district mayor wanted to go to the scene of the incident. Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo also commemorated the victims and their families. A psychological support service will be set up in the 10th arrondissement town hall.

Ten years ago, Kurds in Paris were victims of an assassination attempt

The deadly shots fired at a Kurdish community center bring back memories of an assassination attempt on Kurds in the French capital ten years ago. On January 10, 2013, three Kurdish activists were killed in the Kurdistan Information Center in Paris, including Sakine Cansiz, a founding member of the banned Kurdish Workers’ Party PKK.

“Ten years after the murder of three Kurdish activists in the 10th arrondissement, the Ahmet Kaya cultural center and the Kurdish community in our arrondissement have again fallen victim to a murderous attack,” tweeted French Senator Rémi Féraud. “Remember the victims and show solidarity with the Kurds. We stand together.”

After the attack ten years ago, a Turk was the only suspect to be tried in Paris. He died in prison in 2016 before a verdict was reached. Findings at the time indicated that agents of the Turkish secret service MIT were involved in preparing the assassination.