Protests for the second day against the “single crime” rule of the French authorities
Three people, including a leader of the women’s movement, have been killed in the crime of a French man in his 60s
Authority “A clear crime targeted overseas… I can’t find any links to terrorist groups.”
Kurdish Democratic Council “Political Attack… Terrorism Involved in Turkiye”
Angian Street in the 10th arrondissement of Paris, France, where the Ahmet-Kaya Kurdistan Cultural Center and Kurdish restaurants face each other, filled with people from the morning of the 24th (local time) to the end of the alley. seen. This is where the shooting the day before took place, in which three Kurds were killed and three were in critical condition.
Photos of the shooting victims were placed at the entrance to the Kurdistan Cultural Center, which is used as the headquarters of the French Kurdistan Democratic Council (CDKF). An incense burner has been set up inside the centre. People would put flowers in front of the picture or light small candles to commemorate her and still couldn’t move their feet. “It’s heartbreaking,” said Rahra, 19, who was leaning against the wall of the building.
A large crowd also gathered on the Place de la Republique in central Paris, 1.2 km from the alley. The CDKF resumed the protest in Piazza della Repubblica after the police fired tear gas to disperse the protest that took place immediately after the previous day’s shooting.
At around 1.00pm news broke that armed conflict had broken out between protesters and police on Temple Street, about 100 meters from the square. Angry protesters overturned vehicles and threw bricks at police. Trash cans and other places were on fire. The police responded with tear gas. Paris police commissioner Laurent Nounet said 11 protesters had been arrested and 31 police officers injured.
The Kurds are outraged by the judgment of the French authorities, who have defined the incident as a “single crime” committed by a racist individual rather than “terrorism” behind Turkiye.
Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said: “The suspect clearly targeted a foreigner”, but “it is unclear whether he specifically targeted Kurds. No links to far-right forces or terrorist groups have yet been found.” Consequently, the investigation into the case will be conducted by the Paris Public Prosecutor’s Office, not by the National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor’s Office (PNAT).
According to the Paris prosecutor’s office, the suspect in the shooting is a 69-year-old French national who retired from his job as a railway engineer. He was arrested in December last year for injuring two men at an immigration detention center in Paris’ 12th arrondissement with a fencing knife, but was recently released. When he was arrested by the police, he said he was a racist.
However, CDKF spokesman Ajit Pola said, “We are outraged that the incident has not been classified as terrorism. For us, this attack is a political attack and is part of the tension Turkiye deliberately maintains.”
Turkey is conducting military operations against Kurdish groups such as the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which the EU and the US have designated as terrorist groups. Since 2019, it has launched air strikes to wipe out Kurdish militias along the border with Syria, and in November, despite opposition from the international community, announced the introduction of ground troops. Ibrahim Kalin, spokesman for the Turkish presidential office, tweeted on the 25th that he had published a photo of a car that was overturned during the protest and criticized: “I am the same French PKK as the Syrian terrorist organization”.
On the day of the shooting, there was a meeting at the Kurdistan Cultural Center to discuss the 10th anniversary event of three female activists, PKK founders Sakine Kanshiz, Pidan Dogan and Leila Soylemez. Their bodies were found mutilated in Paris on January 3, 2013. At the time, French judicial authorities believed a Turkish spy was involved in the incident, but the case was dropped when a Turkish suspect died before being processed. Another CDKF spokesman, Beriban Pirat, told BFM TV: “The Kurdish community, which was traumatized by the events of 2013, is terrified by this incident. France must protect us.”
The shooting victim, Emine Kara, is a leader of the Kurdish women’s movement who has participated in the fight against the Islamic State (IS) in Syria. Syrian Kurds have joined the fight against IS to create international public opinion in favor of Kurdish independence. However, after the defeat of IS, the “Kurdish question” was neglected. Kara later sought asylum in France and applied for refugee status, but she was not accepted.
Another victim, Mir Fewar, is a singer, songwriter and political refugee from Turkey. Spokesman Pirat said he “shocked Erdogan’s regime by writing and singing in Kurdish” and came to France to escape arrest and prison.
Abdulrahman Kyzyl, the eldest of the victims, was known in the Kurdish community as an “elder”. CDKF reported that they visited the Kurdish Cultural Center often, stayed all day, and enthusiastically participated in various community activities.
