Thousands march in Paris to protest unresolved killings of Kurds

1000’s collect within the French capital to demand justice for 3 Kurdish activists who had been killed within the metropolis 10 years in the past.

1000’s of demonstrators have marched in Paris to specific their frustration concerning the unresolved murders of three Kurdish feminine activists 10 years in the past.

The marchers had been additionally mourning the three individuals killed outdoors a Kurdish cultural centre in Paris two weeks in the past in what prosecutors referred to as a racist assault.

Kurdish activists got here to the demonstration from Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Belgium in buses, escorted by police, and joined fellow Kurds from France in a peaceable march by northeast Paris on Saturday.

The organisers mentioned not less than 25,000 individuals from throughout Europe had joined the rally. However Paris police put the determine at 10,000.

The demonstration was timed to mark the tenth anniversary of the killings of Sakine Cansiz, Fidan Dogan and Leyla Saylemez on January 9, 2013.

Cansiz was a founding father of the Kurdistan Staff’ Occasion (PKK) which Turkey, the USA and the European Union contemplate a “terrorist” group.

She was killed “execution type” with photographs to the top. Two different girls had been killed in the identical method: Dogan, 28 and Saylemez, 24 on the Kurdish Data Centre in Paris’ tenth district.

The demonstrators carried banners with footage of the 2013 victims.

Greater than 1,200 individuals additionally marched within the southern French metropolis of Marseille, in accordance with an AFP estimate. Native police mentioned 800 took half within the march.

The suspect within the killings, a Turkish citizen, died in French custody earlier than the case reached the trial. Kurdish activists suspect that the Turkish intelligence service was concerned within the murders, one thing Ankara has all the time denied.

Whereas most marchers had been Kurdish, the gang additionally included left-wing French activists and a few ethnic Turks.

“In the present day, we’re right here to help our Kurdish mates as a result of I’m Turkish myself, and it is vitally essential, as a result of what is going on with the Kurdish individuals can occur to us, as nicely, tomorrow,” mentioned Ibrahim Halac, a Turkish man residing in Paris.

Turkey summoned France’s ambassador final week for what it referred to as “propaganda” by Kurdish activists throughout a march to mourn three individuals killed in a taking pictures at a Kurdish cultural centre in Paris.