In the aftermath of the tragedy, the emotion is still strong. Several hundred people gathered Saturday, December 24 on the Place de la République, in Paris, to pay tribute to the three Kurds killed the day before.
At least four cars were overturned, including at least one set on fire, and garbage cans burned on the Boulevard du Temple. The security forces, targeted by projectile jets, responded by firing tear gas canisters.
A 69-year-old man is suspected of having fired on Friday, rue d’Enghein, in the 10th arrondissement of the capital, near a Kurdish cultural center. Three other people were injured.
In the crowd, many demonstrators waved flags of the PKK (Kurdistan Workers’ Party) or the effigy of three Kurdish activists murdered in January 2013 in Paris.
“What we feel is pain and incomprehension because this is not the first time this has happened,” said Esra, a 23-year-old student, her eyes red with tears.
The demonstrators denounce “an injustice” and a “terrorist” act
A minute of silence was observed, in music, in memory of the victims and “all the Kurds who died for freedom”. Several demonstrators present on Saturday denounced an “injustice” and a “terrorist” and “political” act.
The suspect, of French nationality and aged 69, who had already committed violence with a weapon in the past, indicated during his arrest that he acted because he was “racist”.
“There is no doubt for us that these are political assassinations. The fact that our associations are targeted is of a terrorist and political nature,” said Agit Polat, spokesperson for the Kurdish Democratic Council in France, after a meeting with the Paris police chief Laurent. Nunez, organized earlier Saturday morning.
The custody of the suspect, a 69-year-old man known to the police, was extended on Saturday.