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The Kurdistan National Congress (KNK) pointed to Turkey’s efforts to stifle Kurdish political organising in Europe and said Friday’s shooting at a Kurdish cultural centre in Paris was “clearly once again organised from Ankara … no matter who pulls the trigger” in a statement released immediately after the attack.
The attack cannot be considered to be ordinary, the Brussels-based umbrella Kurdish platform said. “It is another version of the assassination 10 years ago in Paris.”
“We do not know who the captured person is, but it is an Ankara-based operation,” KNK said, pointing the finger to Turkey’ National Intelligence Service (MİT).
Sakine Cansız, Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) founding member and prominent Kurdish rights advocate, and two activist women, Fidan Doğan and Leyla Şaylemez, were assassinated in the Kurdistan Information Centre on 9 January, 2013. The late gunman, Ömer Güney, was revealed to be an MİT asset during the judicial process.
In the decade since, lawyers and investigators “have seen that the center of the Turkish assassination teams in Europe is France”, KNK said.
The organisation urged François Molins to “not mislead the public”, rejecting the Paris prosecutor’s announcement that the attack was racially motivated and committed by an elderly Caucasian male who had previously attacked a migrant centre.
“Even if that might be the case, we have no doubt that it was directed by Turkey,” KNK said, calling for unity among Kurds.
Turkey must be held accountable and face trial for its crimes, the group said.
