The Entrance door to the building from the Kurdistan Information Centre
The political murders of three Kurdish women which occurred in central Paris is still waiting to be clarified since 10 January 2013
Sakine Cansiz, who was one of the PKK’s founders, along with KNK Paris Representative Fidan Doğan and Leyla Şaylemez were killed in the incident which occurred in Paris, the capital of France. According to information received, an unknown person or persons attacked the Kurdish Information Office located in Gare Du Nord.
Firat News Agency Date:10/01/2013 04:04:06
What happened on 9 Jnuary 2013 between 12:30 and 13:00 in Rue La Fayette in the heart of Paris
On the evening of 9 January 2013 Fidan Doğan (Rojbîn), Sakine Cansiz (Sara) and Leyla Şaylemez’s (Ronahî) friends became deeply concerned after attempting repeatedly to contact them. On the same night at about 01:15, when they opened the Kurdistan Information office’s door where Fidan Doğan worked, they were confronted with the three bloody bodies of the Kurdish women. French police officers were called immediately. The initial findings showed that the three Kurdish women did not use their phones after 12:00, on 9 January. Despite the assault happening on the busy street of Rue La Fayette so close to the Train Station Gare du Nord in central Paris, not one witness could be found who had any knowledge about the massacre!
The incident immediately became a major international news item. Thousands of Kurdish protesters, and Kurdish supporters, came to Paris from all over Europe. The protesters were deeply shocked and distressed by the massacre.
On the 10th of January, France‘s Minister of the Interior Manuel Valls visited the Kurdish Information office to initiate the investigations. While there, he gave a speech on behalf of the French Government, describing the case as a political murder, and he pledged that the police team was working seriously on the case; and that every effort was being made to solve the case as soon as possible. Thousands of Kurds and fellow supporters filled the streets of Paris to send the bodies of the three Kurdish women back to their homeland in a magnificent ceremony, during which they raised their voices in unison in demanding justice.
At the same time, several Kurdish organisations started an independent investigation into the killings immediately. They warned the shocked and traumatised Kurdish people to peacefully protest and express their demands for justice and the apprehending of the murderer/s. It was soon established that the last person who entered the Kurdistan Information Office was Omer Guney, information which was immediately shared with the French Police. However, Omer Guney was not taken into custody until the 18th of January, and was soon released after his initial questioning.
Later, only after a press release on January 22nd it was revealed to the public that Guney had been detained and in custody for four days. The prosecution office announced that Omer Guney was the first suspect in the case, due to a number of suspicious linkages to the crime. Gunpowder traces, the time that he entered the crime scene and his unclarified 46 minutes during that day were suspicious evidence against him. Yet, what is disturbing is what has occurred, or rather not occurred, since then:
Since the assault was exposed in the early hours of 10 January, all Kurdish institutions in Paris were contacted in an attempt to obtain information about the murders. The intention of this process was in order to collect information about the persons responsible for the murders, to find out the forces behind the assault, and to reach out for information from anyone with any knowledge of the incident. Over a period of six months the judge in charge of the case interviewed the three Kurdish women’s family for four hours. Despite his promise that he was working 24/7 on the case, he only established Omer Guney’s connection with the criminal case. However, the investigation failed to uncover any information about who was actually behind the slaughter, especially since the murders were clearly of a political nature. France intelligence agencies were largely silent on the murders, but more importantly they failed to share their knowledge about the incident in their possession with the case’s judges. Likewise, the Turkish government also did not provide any information. After six months it was conveyed to the Kurdish families of the women murdered that they had arrested the murderer, however they failed to establish which forces were behind the murders. The families were explicitly told that they should not expect or hope to find the truth about who was behind the murders. Despite the protests of Kurdish people and their friends, and the actions of mainly women’s groups who held a “Justice’ Meeting” every Wednesday until now, there has been no more statements given to the Kurdish families by the French or Turkish authorities.
Sakine Cansiz (Sara): 12 February 1958 – 9 January 2013
“SAKINE CANSIZ IS THE ROSA LUXEMBURG OF THE KURDISH PEOPLE.” — Gültan Kışanak Co-chair of BDP
Cansiz, who was an Alevi Kurd, was born in Dersim in 1958. She was a strong defender of both her Kurdish and Alevi identities, which were forbidden by the Turkish Republic. Consequently, she joined the PKK and participated in the founding congress of the PKK in 1978. Until 9th of January 2013 she was one of the few still living PKK founders, as well as the first member of the Kurdish Women‘s Army which had thousands of soldiers. She took part in organisational activities of the PKK in Elazig and Bingol. She was soon arrested during the 12 September 1980 Turkish coup. Her defiance and resistance against Commander Esat Okay who was responsible for torturing prisoners while she was in Diyarbakir Prison where she stayed many years became legendary. Her legendary role was further cemented when she was the first one to make a political defence in a Turkish court for Kurdish Freedom.
After finishing a 12 year prison sentence, she continued to carry out the struggle in various fields and remained a prominent leader in Kurdish history and the struggle for freedom.
In 1995, in order to create opportunities for Kurdish women to become organized, she participated in the first Kurdish Woman Congress and played a crucial role in the process since she was experienced in the creation of the Kurdish Women’s Army. In her thirty years of struggle, she was a partisan commander, woman‘s right advocate, a teacher in Maxmur refugee camp, a governor of the PKK, tutor in the academy, as well as a diplomat who attempted to bring the Kurdish Freedom Struggle to international attention. Despite her status and legendary role, she was regarded as a comrade by those in the movement. She was, and still remains, the inspiration for Kurdish people and Kurdish Female Freedom Fighters in particular.
Fidan Doğan (Rojbîn):17 January 1982 – 9 January 2013
“SHE WAS A WELL KNOWN PERSON BY ME AND BY SO MANY POLITICAL PEOPLE.” — French President Francois Hollande
Fidan (Rojbîn) also came from an Alevi Kurdish family from Maras where a large scale massacre of the Kurds occurred. Consequently, Fidan moved to France with her family when she was 9 years old. Her father stated that she was a deeply intelligent woman, and that she learned French in six months. In 1999, she joined the Kurdish Freedom Struggle in reaction to Kurdish National Leader Abdullah Ocalan’s hijacking and kidnapping to Turkey. She used her French language skills for her nation’s freedom fight and to raise further awareness of the plight of the Kurds in France, Europe and the international community. You could often see Fidan trying to collect signatures from members of Parliament, or interviewing a priest to help activists who could not find a place for a hunger strike. It was possible to see her arranging international conferences or setting up activist work in South America. She also played an important part by acting as an official interpreter for Kurdish MPs from Turkey who visited France. She was so beloved within the community that there are many others who could attest to her work, far more than this report could ever reveal. If her cruel killing had not happened she would have participated in the historic Amed Newroz, as she was planning to visit her village that she had left as a child. Her final wishes were fulfilled by the millions of Kurdish people who mourned her loss in her village and surrounding towns. Her coffin was taken to Amed where hundreds of thousands of Kurds turned up to the ceremony. Finally, she was buried in her birthplace of Hancipak village in Elbistan/Maraş.
Leyla Şaylemez (Ronahî): 1 January 1989 – 9 January 2013
“IT WAS SAID TO US THAT THERE IS NO LIVING CHANCE FOR US BECAUSE OF THIS SLAUGHTER. HOWEVER, WE CREATE OUR CHANGE BY OURSELVES.” — BDP Amed MP Emine Ayna
Şaylemez’s family was deported from their homeland, Lice/Amed, before she was born; and so Leyla was born in Mersin, miles away from her family’s homeland. When Lice was burned down by Turkish soldiers Leyla was only a small baby. She experienced another deportation with her family when she was 10 years old. She continued her education in Halle Salle in Germany where she moved with her parents and six siblings. She acquired knowledge about her country’s painful history from her father and she showed a great interest in the future of her country. Leyla became involved in many cultural activities at the Kurdish Institute and was a well-known Kurdish youth activist within the Kurdish community in Paris.
Source:
CENÎ Kurdisches Frauenbüro für Frieden e.V. | Kurdish Women‘s Office for Peace
www.ceni-kurdistan.com
