Thousands of Kurds march in Paris to protest unresolved killings


Kurdish activists march during a protest in Paris, Saturday, Jan. 7, 2023.

KURDS from throughout France and beyond marched in their thousands in Paris on Saturday to show their anger over the unresolved killing of three Kurdish activists in the French capital 10 years ago.

The marchers were also mourning the shooting of three people, Abdurrahman Kizil, Mir Perwer and Emine Kara, by a man outside a Kurdish cultural centre in Paris in December in what prosecutors are calling a racist attack.

Ms Kara was the leader of the Movement of Kurdish Women in France.

Organisers said at least 25,000 people took part in the rally, police put the figure at 10,000.

Kurdish activists from Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Belgium arrived in buses escorted by police and joined fellow Kurds from France in a peaceful march through the streets of north-east Paris.

More than 1,200 people also marched in the southern French city of Marseille on Saturday.

The demonstrations marked the 10th anniversary of the killings of Sakine Cansiz, Fidan Dogan and Leyla Saylemez.

Mr Cansiz was a founder of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, which Turkey and the European Union have designated a terrorist group.

Kurdish activists accuse the Turkish intelligence service of being involved in the killing. The suspected attacker, a Turkish citizen, died in French custody before the case reached trial.

Turkish officials claimed at the time that the killings may have been part of an internal feud among Kurdish activists or an attempt to derail peace talks.

On Saturday marchers carried banners bearing the victims’ portraits, as well as flags for the PKK, which has waged a separatist insurgency against the Turkish state since 1984.

Berfin Celebm, who came from Amsterdam for the march, accused Turkey of involvement in both the 2013 and 2022 attacks.

“I want to support my struggle and I want to support Kurdish women,” she told reporters.

Ibrahim Halac, a Turk living in Paris who attended the march, said: “Today we are here to support our Kurdish friends because I am Turkish myself, and it is very important, because what is happening with the Kurdish people can happen to us as well tomorrow.”

The Turkish military has carried out a series of attacks against the Kurds in south-east Turkey and in northern Iraq that have cost the lives of hundreds of civilians.

MORNINGSTAR CPUK

Activists in Nicosia protest the Paris massacre

Kurds and their friends protested in front of the French Consulate in Nicosia condemning the murder of Sakine Cansız, Fidan Doğan and Leyla Şaylemez in Paris ten years ago.

ANF
NICOSIA
Sunday, 8 Jan 2023, 18:39

Kurds and their friends took to the streets in Nicosia, capital of Cyprus, on Sunday to mark the 10th anniversary of the triple murder in Paris of PKK founding member Sakine Cansız (Sara), KNK Paris representative Fidan Doğan (Rojbîn) and Kurdish youth movement member Leyla Şaylemez (Ronahî) on 9 January 2013.

Anarchist, ANTIFA Nicosia, Ramon and IWW youth members also attended the protest march from the Interior Ministry of Cyprus to the French Consulate.

In addition to the images of the three Kurdish women, the crowd also displayed images of Evîn Goyî, Mîr Perwer and Abdurrahman Kızıl, victims of another triple murder against the Kurdish community in Paris on 23 December 2022.

The march was followed by a rally in front of the French Consulate. The demonstration here began with a minute of silence in memory of the three female revolutionaries, after which a leaflet prepared by the Kurdish People’s Council in Cyprus was read out.

Politician Lezgin Serhat and the Co-Chair of the Kurdish People’s Council in Cyprus, Fatma Doğan, addressed the crowd and vowed to keep the struggle going.