The remains of the three Kurds murdered in the 23 December shooting in Paris arrived in Iraq and Turkey, where victims’ families and mourners were met with police interventions.
Turkish police did not allow the family of Mîr Perwer, also known as Mehmet Şirin Aydın, to pick up the young Kurdish musician’s body from the Muş (Mûş) airport in eastern Turkey, instead moving the casket themselves via a lesser used route. The burial ceremony could not be held up to par with the family’s religious beliefs, Mezopotamya Agency reported.
Perwer’s father and siblings were the only ones permitted to attend the actual burial, cut off from other mourners by police barricade. Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) MP Gülistan Kılıç Koçyiğit’s car was stopped at the entrance of the Yeşilova (Ewran) village where the funeral was held, and the deputy was not allowed in to the village even on foot.
Hundreds of mourners were stopped at the village entrance, where they decided to hold an impromptu protest. Their attempt to make a press statement were met with rubber bullets and tear gas from the police. Several dozen were taken into police custody.
Meanwhile in Kars (Qers), where the governor had issued a ban on all gatherings, gendarmerie units cut off all access to the village where Abdurrahman Kızıl’s funeral was to be held, Mezopotamya said.
The Kars city council refused to provide a hearse for the casket, a routine service provided by all municipalities in the country. Most of the funeral procession was not allowed to reach the village of Qeregûnî, and the ceremony was held with a small group.
“All should know that Abdurrahman Kızıl is a martyr of the Kurdish people,” Democratic Regions Party (DBP) Co-chair Saliha Aydeniz said at the funeral.
Aydeniz called on the French government to bring the matter to light. “They must reveal Kızıl’s actual killers. If they don’t, the French government will be responsible for the massacre. They must reveal the powers behind this attack, and consider it an act of terrorism.”
The third victim, Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK) Executive Council Member Emine Kara’s (Evîn Goyî) remains were brought to the Qandil region in northern Iraq, where KCK has its headquarters. Kaya was laid to rest in a martyrs’ cemetery after a mass funeral, with her casket carried on the shoulders of women, Mezopotamya reported.
