ŞİRİN SALİH

Sulaymaniyah- On December 23, 2022, a gun attack was carried out against the Ahmet Kaya Kurdish Cultural Center in Paris. The Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK) Executive Council Member Emine Kara, Mîr Perwer (Mehmet Şirin Aydın) and Abdurrahman Kızıl lost their lives in the gun attack. Since December 23, the Kurdish people have been taking to the streets in European countries, particularly in Paris, and Kurdistan to demand the forces behind the shooter be revealed.

On January 9, 2013, Sakine Cansız, Fidan Doğan and Leyla Söylemez, Kurdish women's activists, were murdered in Paris, France. While the Kurdish people and women were preparing to demand the dark forces behind perpetrator Ömer Güney be revealed on the 10th anniversary of the massacre, a second massacre took place in Paris on December 23, 2022. The Kurds, who do not accept that the second massacre was an ‘individual and racist’ attack, call on the French state to reveal the forces behind the shooter.

Sinur Rahman, a journalist based in the city of Sulaymaniyah, the Kurdistan Region, pointed to the similarities of the second Paris Massacre with the first Paris Massacre against the Kurds. She called on the French state to reveal the dark forces behind the perpetrator.

‘There are similarities’

“As a Kurd, I have no doubt that this massacre is also a political massacre,” she said, “There are similarities between the first and second Paris massacres. There are traces showing that the massacres were carried out by the MIT (Turkish National Intelligence Organization). The French police announced that the perpetrator was released from prison 12 days before the massacre and that the attack was a racist and against refugees. The question why the shooter attacked only Kurds in a street where people from many nations live is a question that should be answered. We see that the Turkish state has carried out attacks against the Kurds in Bashur and Rojava. In addition, a few days ago, a political genocidal attack was carried out against political parties in Bashur. The forces behind the perpetrator of the Paris massacre are clear.”

‘The French state must reveal the forces behind the perpetrator’

Pointing to the attitude of France against the massacre in Paris, Sinur Rahman said, “If France had solved the murder of Sakine Cansız and her comrades, the second massacre would not have been carried out. If France claims that it is an equal, democratic and just country, then it should solve these massacres and reveal the forces behind them. The unity and organization of the Kurdish people is important to prevent another massacre to be carried out against them.”

‘The Turkish state targets struggling women’

Sinur Rahman stated that Emine Kara devoted her life to the Kurdish Freedom Struggle and fought for the freedom of Kurds and women for 30 years like Sakine Cansız. “She also had a struggling personality just like comrade Sakine. Therefore, she was targeted and killed. The Paris Massacre that took place in 2013 targeted the 40-year Kurdish Women's Movement and the Kurdish Freedom Movement. Unlike all other parties and movements, women are the pioneers in the Kurdish Freedom Movement, defending their lands and culture. The Turkish state has a Kurdophobia and a phobia of Kurdish women. It is afraid of organized Kurdish women. Therefore, it attacks the Kurdish Freedom Struggle by targeting Kurdish women. Today, women lead the Jin, Jiyan, Azadi resistance. All Kurdish women who are active and leading the struggle are targeted by the Turkish state. If I take such a stance in Bashur Kurdistan, they will target me as well. Several months ago, Nagihan Akarsel was targeted and killed in Sulaymaniyah. The Turkish state carries out its terrorist attacks everywhere. We should exhibit a joint stance against these terrorist attacks everywhere.”