The sky is gray, Wednesday January 4, above Paris, and everyone goes about their daily business on the sidewalks of the 10th arrondissement near the Bonne Nouvelle metro station.
In the rue d'Enghien, it's time for meditation at the Kurdish cultural center Ahmet Kaya.
Here, at number 16, three Kurdish people were killed on December 23 by a man who had already been convicted twice of prohibited possession of weapons and of violence with weapons.
The Paris prosecutor described the suspect as "having a hatred of foreigners that has become completely pathological".
The surroundings of the cultural center – which is also the headquarters of the association of the Kurdish Democratic Council in France (CDK-F) – are adorned with multiple tributes (flowers, candles, portraits) to Emine Kara, Miran Perwer and Abdurrahman Kizil, the three victims of the attack of December 23 whose funeral took place Tuesday in Villiers-le-Bel (in the Val d'Oise).
At the end of the morning, dozens of people gathered for a white march initiated by the Kurdish Women's Movement in France.
A march at the crossroads of current events and another tribute to three Kurdish activists.
Fidan Dogan, Leyla Saylemez and Sakine Cansiz – co-founder of the Kurdish PKK party, classified as a terrorist organization by Ankara and the EU – were killed in January 2013 rue La Fayette, about fifteen minutes on foot from rue d'Enghien.
A case over which hovers the shadow of the Turkish secret services.
The surroundings of the Kurdish cultural center Ahmed Kaya are adorned with multiple tributes (flowers, candles, portraits) to the three people killed at the end of December rue d'Enghien pic.twitter.com/KJJtVZ2IbC
— Jean-Luc Mounier (@mounierjl) January 4, 2023
Wreaths of pink, yellow and white flowers are ready, and dozens of women put on a purple vest covered with three medallion portraits of Kurdish activists, on the back of which one can read "Truth and justice: these three activists were murdered in Paris January 9, 2013".
Zilan Diyar also put on his vest at the foot of the steps of the Kurdish cultural center.
This activist from the Kurdish Women's Movement in France explains, with the help of an interpreter, that "these attacks (of 2013 and 2022) are the continuity of a patriarchal and colonial system which rages against Kurdish women".
She feels "pain and anger" over recent events.
"But we want pain to become a driver of change. We walk with this idea, it's what gives us strength," she adds.
On December 23, "a targeted attack against the Kurdish community"
Wreaths of flowers are placed at 16, rue d'Enghien before the start of the white march.
Elected officials joined the rally, including the mayor of the 10th arrondissement, Alexandra Cordebard, or the deputy mayor of Paris in charge of housing, Ian Brossat.
Before the departure of the procession, wreaths were laid in tribute to the three Kurdish people killed on December 23 pic.twitter.com/ETCLhmOz4n
— Jean-Luc Mounier (@mounierjl) January 4, 2023
A van leads the way on rue du Faubourg Saint-Denis and the procession sets off, silent.
During the march, feminist songs – including the song "to the glory of women in mourning" – echo in the street from the sound system installed in the back of the lead vehicle.
Passers-by stop for a moment on the sidewalk as the procession passes.
Some immortalize the moment with their smartphone, others are intrigued by the reasons that lead these people to walk under a thin drizzle.
On the boulevard de Magenta, a few minutes from the rue La Fayette, a man whose vehicle was stopped to let the procession pass calls out to the participants in a friendly way.
“France protects the Kurds,” he exclaims, making a V with his fingers – a Kurdish rallying sign.
In the procession, people hold banners on which can read "Ten years after January 9, the Turkish state has again massacred three of our friends in Paris" or "Attack ordered by Erdogan! If France is not no accomplice, so shed some light".
Within the procession, many people are convinced that the December 23 attack on the Kurdish cultural center "is not just a racist crime" pic.twitter.com/kLJzf5Raxd
— Jean-Luc Mounier (@mounierjl) January 4, 2023
Many people present this Wednesday are convinced that the attack of December 23 "is not only a racist crime".
Fidan, a member of the CDK-F, affirms that the events which occurred almost two weeks ago "are a targeted terrorist attack against the Kurdish community".
And she asks: "We are not a visible community, there are a lot of very busy streets towards the rue d'Enghien, so why did you attack people near the Kurdish cultural center? There are necessarily sponsors behind this attack, and it's not paranoia or a conspiracy theory."
>> To read also: "Fighter, musician, political refugee: the three Kurdish victims of the attack in Paris"
"Justice must be done"
Estelle, a member of the France-Kurdistan association, also believes that the author of the December 23 attack "is a man who has been manipulated".
"It was a voluntary act to say to the Kurds: 'Look, you are still unprotected.'
The Kurdish community was targeted, and one of the people murdered (Emine Kara) was not an average person, she was also one of the organizers of the white march today, "adds -she.
This hypothesis of an act other than racist and xenophobic does not seem to be considered for the moment by the authorities.
For lack of elements linking the suspect to ultra-right ideology, the National Anti-Terrorist Prosecutor's Office (Pnat) did not take up the investigation.
An attack can "seriously disturb public order" without "the intention of the author (was) necessarily to terrorize or intimidate", specified the Pnat to AFP.
The procession turns right and finally arrives at rue La Fayette.
At No. 147 in the street, some of the walkers come forward to lay portraits of the victims of January 9, 2013 and December 23, 2022, as well as wreaths of flowers.
A minute of silence is observed in their honor.
Some people wave a red carnation, others make the V sign. The women in purple vests also form a human chain in the street, holding hands and holding a new banner with the portrait of the three Kurdish activists killed in 2013, in above which we can read "Justice Now".
Three wreaths were laid at 147 rue La Fayette in tribute to the three Kurdish activists killed on January 9, 2013 pic.twitter.com/uTXblQw3Um
— Jean-Luc Mounier (@mounierjl) January 4, 2023
This is also what Fidan is asking: "We are here to pay tribute to our three murdered friends and, through them, to all the women who have fallen for the Kurdish cause. Justice must be done for this triple assassination and that the France has the political will to resolve this matter."
Many walkers present on Wednesday are asking for the lifting of defense secrecy in this file.
Several speeches take place on the sound system of the van for the closing of the white march.
A woman calls for "breaking the silence" and "denouncing Turkish barbarism, the triple assassination and ten years of injustice".
Sarah Marcha, spokesperson for the Kurdish Women's Movement in France, continues: "Paris, city of love, has again become the city of death for the Kurds. We will do everything to make it the city of truth and of Justice."
And she concludes her remarks, repeated in chorus, with the Kurdish slogan: "Jin Jiyan Azadî" ("Woman, life, freedom").
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