Attack against Kurds: hundreds of demonstrators in Paris, the racist motive retained
Supporters and members of the Kurdish community take part in a demonstration a day after a gunman opened fire on a Kurdish cultural center killing three people, Place de la République in Paris on December 24, 2022. AFP - JULIEN DE ROSA
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In the aftermath of the shooting which left three dead and three injured, the suspect's police custody was extended on Saturday December 24 and the Paris prosecutor's office added the "racist" motive to the investigation.
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Saturday noon, several hundred people paid tribute to the three victims and three others injured in the shooting that took place near a Kurdish cultural center the day before.
In the crowd, many demonstrators waved flags of the PKK (Kurdistan Workers' Party) or the effigy of three Kurdish activists murdered in January 2013 in Paris.
Violence broke out between demonstrators and the police on the sidelines of the rally organized on Saturday in Paris.
Several cars were overturned, including at least one set on fire, and garbage cans burned on Boulevard du Temple, near Place de la République.
The security forces, targeted by projectile jets, responded by firing tear gas canisters.
In the Kurdish community, very present in the district of the capital affected by the attack,
anger mixed with emotion
.
Violent incidents had already erupted on Friday between the police and members of the community who spoke of a "
terrorist
" act and implicated Turkey.
Racist motivation
The main suspect in the
shooting that killed three people and injured three others
on Friday in the 10th arrondissement of Paris is still in police custody, which has been extended.
During his discussions with the police, the 69-year-old French retiree told a police officer that he acted because he was "
racist
".
The Paris prosecutor's office has also announced that the "
racist motive of the facts
" has been added to the investigation opened for assassinations, attempted assassinations, violence with a weapon and violations of the legislation on weapons.
To our colleagues from BFM TV, the spokesperson for the Kurdish Democratic Council in France, Agit Polat, expressed his conviction that this is a terrorist and political act directed against the Kurdish community: "
We Kurdish militants who are fighting in France for the interests of the Kurdish people, for the Kurdish cause, for the fundamental recognition of the rights of the Kurdish people, we are obviously targeted by Turkey, by Erdogan, as was the case on January 9, 2013 during of the
triple assassination of Kurdish militants
(...) for us, there is no doubt that these are political assassinations orchestrated by Turkey
”
.
Agit Polat, spokesperson for the Kurdish Democratic Council in France on BFMTV
Among the three victims is Emine Kara, a leader of the Kurdish Women's Movement in France, according to the Kurdish Democratic Council in France (CDK-F).
She had made a request for political asylum "
rejected by the French authorities
", according to the spokesperson for the movement, Agit Polat.
The other two deceased men are Abdulrahman Kizil, "
an ordinary Kurdish citizen
" who frequented the association "
daily
", and Mir Perwer, a Kurdish artist recognized as a political refugee and "
prosecuted in Turkey for his art
", according to the CDK-F .
#EmineKara, (#EvînGoyî), is one of the three victims of the terrorist attack against the #CDKF.
She was responsible for the Kurdish women's mvt, the same mvt at the origin of the slogan #JinJiyanAzadî.
1/2 pic.twitter.com/rk5ihXxBNa
— Kurdish Democratic Council in France (@Le_CDKF) December 24, 2022
The track of the terrorist attack dismissed
The track of a terrorist attack has been ruled out at this stage of the investigations, arousing the incomprehension and anger of the CDK-F.
"
The fact that our associations are targeted is of a terrorist and political nature
", declared Agit Polat after his meeting with the prefect of police.
The suspect, who frequented a shooting range, “
wanted to attack foreigners
” and “
obviously acted alone
”, French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin estimated on Friday, who added that he was unknown to the authorities. intelligence services, but not justice.
Indicted since December 2021, he is suspected of having stabbed migrants at a camp in Paris and of having slashed their tents.
After a year in pre-trial detention, he was released on December 12, as required by French law, and placed under judicial supervision, according to the prosecutor.
He was also sentenced in 2017 to a six-month suspended prison sentence for prohibited possession of weapons and, last June, to twelve months' imprisonment for violence with weapons committed in 2016. He appealed against this sentence.
(with agencies)
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