Last night, 3 Kurdish female politicians--PKK co-founder Sakine Cansız, Kurdish National Congress Paris representative Fidan Doğan and Leyla Söylemez--were found dead at the Kurdish Information Office in Paris last night before 2am.
The three women were allegedly murdered by a group of individuals who were buzzed into the office, Firat News Agency said.
Rumors say that Cansız and Doğan were shot dead with a bullet in the head while Söylemez died due to a gun wound in the belly. Murders were said to be orchestrated with weapons equipped with silencers.
"We didn't hear from Fidan Doğan for hours. So we headed to the office after midnight around 1am. There were traces of blood by the entrance. We broke in and found them dead," Selma Akkaya from Özgür Politika newspaper said.
Mehmet Ülker, Kurdish Associations Federation of France, confirmed Akkaya, saying that two of his friends were among who found the three dead bodies. "We estimate that the incident took place around 7-8pm on Monday night. The office was located on the first floor in a very busy street."
In a statement, Peace and Democracy Party co-chairs Gültan Kışanak and Selahattin Demirtaş expressed their condolences and condemned the murders. "The French government must find the culprits immediately and without leaving any sense of doubt behind the murders. Nobody can cover up a massacre in one of the busiest streets of Paris."
The statement saluted the three murdered Kurdish politicians, suggesting that Kurdish people are ready to do whatever it takes to attain their freedom. "We are calling the Kurdish people to stand by their martyrs and condemn the killings with a series of protests so that their assassins will not go unpunished."
Democratic Society Congress also released a statement condemning the murders. "We once more observed how Kurdish people can brutally be killed in the heart of Europe. The French state must uncover the incident. This is not solely an attack on Kurdish people but also on the sexually liberal paradigm. We are calling all Kurdish people to condemn this with a series of protests.
The killings must be read as a retaliation to the recent peace process between Turkish state and PKK, PKK Europe secretary Zübeyir Aydar told Rudaw news website.
Justice and Development Party (AKP) deputy chair Hüseyin Çelik made the first official Turkish-side reaction on the issue, suggesting that the killings were part of an internal dispute that they have observed several times in the past. (EKN)
