PARIS (AP) — Members of France’s Kurdish neighborhood and others held a silent march Monday to honor three folks killed in a shooting at a Kurdish cultural center in Paris that prosecutors say was motivated by racism.
Turkey summoned France’s ambassador Monday over what it referred to as “black propaganda” by Kurdish activists after the taking pictures. Some have marched in Paris with flags of the banned Kurdistan Employees’ Celebration (PKK), or urged that Turkey was linked to the taking pictures.
A 69-year-old Frenchman is dealing with preliminary homicide costs over Friday’s taking pictures, the Paris prosecutor stated. The suspect advised investigators that he had aimed to kill migrants or foreigners after which had deliberate to kill himself, and stated he had a “pathological” hatred of non-European foreigners, in keeping with prosecutors.
He was briefly put in psychiatric care, however then launched again to unusual police custody, and appeared Monday earlier than an investigating decide. The suspect’s identify hasn’t been formally launched although he’s recognized by French media as William Okay.
The taking pictures shocked and infuriated the Kurdish neighborhood in France, which organized the silent march on Monday. Demonstrators marched from the positioning of Friday’s taking pictures to the placement the place three ladies Kurdish activists had been discovered shot lifeless in 2013.
“Each day we ask ourselves when somebody will shoot at us once more. Ten years in the past we had been attacked within the coronary heart of Paris and 10 years later once more,” stated Dagan Dogan, a 22-year-old Kurd at Monday’s march. “Why there was nothing achieved to guard us?”
Prosecutors say the suspect had a transparent racist motive for the taking pictures.
French authorities have referred to as Friday’s assault an remoted incident, however some Kurdish activists in Paris assume it was politically pushed.
Turkey summoned French Ambassador Herve Magro on Monday to relay unease over what it referred to as black propaganda being waged in opposition to Turkey by Kurdish militant teams following the assault, the Turkish state-run Anadolu Company reported.
Turkey “expects France to behave prudently over the incident and to not permit the (banned PKK) terrorist group to advance its sneaky agenda,” Anadolu reported.
The PKK has waged an armed separatist insurgency in opposition to the Turkish state since 1984 for independence, which has extra lately morphed into calls for for higher autonomy. The battle has killed tens of 1000’s of individuals and displaced many, with a big variety of ethnic Kurds and alleged PKK supporters migrating to European nations.
Turkey’s military has battled Kurdish militants affiliated with the PKK in southeast Turkey in addition to in northern Iraq, and lately launched a collection of strikes in opposition to Syrian Kurdish militant targets in northern Syria.
Turkey, the USA and the European Union think about the PKK a terror group, however Turkey accuses some European nations of leniency towards alleged PKK members. That frustration has been the primary cause behind Turkey’s continued delay of NATO membership for Sweden and Finland.
Suzan Fraser in Ankara, Turkey, and Oleg Cetinic in Paris, contributed to this report.
