Attack on grave of Kurdish singer Ahmet Kaya

The tomb of Kurdish singer Ahmet Kaya in Paris has been vandalised, reports MA.

Ahmet Kaya’s tomb is located in the Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris, and it is not yet known who vandalised his grave. However, Kurdish citizens visiting the tomb said in a video that the attack was fresh, and recalled that it was the 21st anniversary of Kaya’s death in three days time, on 16 November.

The word “Turkey” graffitied on the forehead of Ahmet Kaya’s image on the tombstone gives a clue to the perpetrators.

Ahmet Kaya was a world famous Kurdish singer. In February 1999, during an award ceremony in Turkey at which he was granted the Musician of the Year Award, he declared that he wanted to record a song in Kurdish. He faced a racist attack and lynching by Turkish nationalist celebrities and officials at the ceremony. Following this, Kaya left Turkey and went into exile in France, where he died on 16 November 2000.