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FranceThe demonstration in homage to the Kurds killed in Paris turns into a clash
Cars overturned and set on fire, bullets thrown and tear gas: this Saturday’s rally in the capital quickly degenerated between protesters and the police.
Of the clashes erupted between protesters and police on the sidelines of the demonstration which brought together several thousand people in Paris this Saturday to pay tribute to the three Kurds killed and to the other three people injured the day before near a Kurdish cultural center in the capital.
At around 1pm, an hour after the start of the demonstration on Place de la République, clashes began on the Boulevard du Temple, about a hundred meters away, the journalists noted. At least four cars were overturned, at least one of which was set on fire, and rubbish bins burned.
At least four cars were overturned, at least one of which was set on fire, and rubbish bins burned.
REUTERS
“Long live the resistance of the Kurdish people!”
A few dozen demonstrators fired bullets at the security forces who responded with tear gas. “Long live the resistance of the Kurdish people!” several of them shouted. The march split in two due to these tensions and only a few hundred demonstrators managed to reach the Place de la Bastille shortly after 2 pm, the final point of the demonstration.
Shortly after the march began, protesters fired bullets in the direction of the CRS which responded by shooting tear gas.
AFP extension
Protesters denounce a terrorist and political act
In the crowd, many protesters waved the 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 misunderstanding because this is not the first time this has happened,” said Esra, a 23-year-old student, her eyes red with tears.
A minute of silence was observed, in music, in memory of the victims and “all the Kurds who died for freedom”. Several demonstrators denounced an “injustice” and a “terrorist” and “political” act. The suspect, of French nationality and 69 years old, who had already committed violence with a weapon in the past, declared during his arrest that he had acted because he was “racist”.
Turkey involved
Shortly before the morning, representatives of the Kurdish community had been received by the Paris police chief, Laurent Nunez. Several hundred people also gathered on Saturday afternoon in the center of Marseille at the appeal of the association for the defense of the rights of the Kurds Solidarity and Freedom.
The suspect, whose police custody was extended on Saturday, is alleged to have opened fire on Friday in rue d’Enghien in Paris’ 10th arrondissement, killing three Kurds and wounding three others near a Kurdish cultural centre. In the minutes following the attack, the Kurds of France evoked a “terrorist” act. and involved Turkey.
(AFP extension)
