Drancy: "Kurdistan will be the grave of fascism"

In front of the Kurdish Community Centre in the Parisian suburb of Drancy, activists protested against criminalisation by the police and the threat of Turkish fascists. Protests also took place in Villiers le Bel and Strasbourg.

In the Parisian suburb of Drancy, activists of the Kurdish Community Centre protested against police and fascist attacks on their association. On Thursday, police entered the premises and on Saturday, fascists with Turkish flags gathered in front of the building. An invasion of the Kurdish Community Centre was prevented by the determined behaviour of the members present, and several people were injured. Afterwards, hundreds of other members came to the association and protested in the street with the slogan "Kurdistan will be the grave of fascism". 

Necmettin Demiralp, the co-chair of the Kurdish umbrella organisation CDK-F, issued a press statement and called for a demonstration on Sunday. "Two days ago the police stormed our association, already that was an example of unlawful behaviour. Today there was a fascist attack and this is not a coincidence," Demiralp said on Saturday. "The Kurdish population in Europe is being criminalised. However, we will continue to resist fascism in any way we can. We have done so in the past and we are doing so today. We are determined to do so and we are strong. Our associations were not built with outside help, we built them with our own strength. We will continue to fight because we are in the right."

Co-chair of the Community Centre, Zerrin Serhed, expressed anger at the attacks and announced that today's demonstration in front of Drancy Town Hall will be a democratic protest against the attacks.

In the Parisian suburb of Villiers le Bel and in Strasbourg, activists of the Kurdish youth movement protested against the attacks on Saturday evening.