FEYKA: Investigation on Paris killings overshadowed by France-Ankara cooperation
FEYKA: Investigation on Paris killings overshadowed by France-Ankara cooperation
The Federation of Kurdish Associations in France ( FEYKA) released a written statement in response to what appear having been chosen and the main line of investigation into the execution of Sakine Cansýz, Fidan Doðan and Leyla Þaylemez in Paris on 9 January: no involvement of the Turkish state in favour of a Kurds internal feud. FEYKA stated that The investigation into the killings is being conducted in the shadow of France-Ankara cooperation.
FEYKA remarked that their suspicions over the objectivity of the investigation are growing and criticized French authorities for not denying the news that French and Turkish media have published since the day of the killings. Reports deemed misleading and hiding the truth, according to FEYKA, because all concerned with exonerating the Turkish state and accusing the Kurdish side. FEYKA asked authorities to explain how Turkey could be ruled out from the suspects even before the completion of the investigation into the execution of Sakine Cansýz, a co-founder of the PKK (Kurdistan Workers Party), Fidan Doðan, representative of the KNK (Kurdistan National Congress) in Paris and Kurdish youth movement member Leyla Þaylemez.
FEYKA remarked that the statements by AKP spokesman Hüseyin Çelik, who described the apparent assassination as an internal feud within the PKK in the morning of 10 January, a few hours after the bodies were discovered, hinted at how the investigation would progress.
The Federation cited two news reported by the French and Turkish media with the same approach. The first one is the Le Figaro report dated 10 Jan. 2013 which says that;
According to our information, the investigators do not believe in the theory of a triple homicide in France orchestrated by the Turkish secret services and instead are set to follow the PKK internal feud hypothesis. I do not see the Turkish state mount this type of operation in France, says a special police officer. The police and judicial cooperation is one of the areas where Paris and Ankara agree best. Exchanges of information take place between counter-terrorism judges of both countries. In these circumstances, it is unthinkable, even ridiculous, to see the Turkish state behind this murder ... "
("http://www.lefigaro.fr/actualite-france/2013/01/10/01016-20130110ARTFIG00423-trois-militantes-kurdes-abattues-a-paris.php?cmtpage=8)
The second news cited by FEYKA is Turkish Star daily news published on 20 Jan. 2013;
Following the execution of three PKK members in Paris, French intelligence unit identified the incident as an internal feud within the organization in a preliminary information report it has sent to Ankara. In the investigation into the assassination, the information flow between Paris and Ankara was led by both countries' intelligence services and police units which have also shared significant information about the organization's ties with the two men who were detained in Paris in connection with the killings.
( "http://haber.stargazete.com/guncel/paris-cinayetlerinde-flas-gelisme/haber-720999")
FEYKA asked the French authorities to answer to the following questions;
1) How can the authorities leading the investigation clear Turkey of any role yet before they have completed the investigation?
2) How can the Turkish authorities be provided with information sharing and cooperation while they should in fact still be viewed in a suspect position and while no details have been shared yet with the families and lawyers of the victims?
FEYKA also shared the following information on the investigation to make their concerns more apparent;
1) Sakine Cansýz is referred as a senior official in the file of an investigation that was launched against Kurdish politicians and patriots in France in 2009.
2) A document recently published by Wikileaks shows that the U.S. took an interest on Sakine Cansýz herself. The secret document dated 7 December 2007, written by Ross Wilson, the U.S. Ambassador for Ankara at time, and sent to the Foreign Department of Embassy Ankara and the Baghdad Embassy , says that; As the United States works together with Turkey to implement the President's directive for effective action against PKK terror, we must redouble our efforts to shut down the financial support that flows from Europe into PKK headquarters located in northern Iraq. First, we need to identify and interdict PKK money that is flowing into northern Iraq. This will require U.S., Iraqi, and European authorities to collaborate in a targeted effort that includes enhanced airport screening, more extensive customs procedures, and aggressive disruption of illicit cash transfers into northern Iraq and between northern Iraqi entities and PKK terrorists. Second, we will push the Turks to work more effectively to identify and interdict financial flows. MASAK, Turkey's Financial Crimes Investigation Board, is the GOT's sole money laundering and terrorist financing investigative body. It needs to streamline its investigations and work more effectively with financial police, prosecutors, and judges to effectuate successful prosecutions. Third, we should more sharply focus our work with the Europeans. Previous demarches sensitized the EU to PKK criminal activities. Now we need to narrow our focus by identifying and going after the two top targets of Rýza Altun and Sakine Cansýz. Given their previous arrests, cases against them have been started. We can help by providing the most extensive dossiers possible and coordinating with law enforcement and intelligence counterparts in Europe to ensure these two terrorists are incarcerated." ("http://wikileaks.org/cable/2007/12/07ANKARA2917.html" l "parC")
3) On 19 March 2007, Sakine Cansýz was taken into custody in the German city of Hamburg in accordance with the international warrant of arrest Turkey issued for her as a senior official of the PKK. Cansýz was released on 16 April for lack of evidence.
4) Turkish Prime Minister Erdoðan has made a striking statement on the three women murdered in Paris at the recent general meeting of ASKON (Association of Anatolian Lions Businessmen) on 12 January; On 5 November 2012, we sent a last message to French Interpol to report them that terrorist [referring to Cansýz] was in Paris, however to our regret the French state took no steps (...).
5) According to the information we received, Sakine Cansýz called someone from her German phone number some days before the killings but the person she called saw her number as a number from France. This situation, which means her phone had been tapped and forwarded to another number, needs to be clarified and explained by the units involved in the investigation.
6) The last time Sakine Cansýz went to France was on 6 January, three days before the killings took place. In consideration of the fact that these professional killings cannot be planned spontaneously in three days, it is possible to conclude that the execution had been planned much earlier.
7) The building of the Kurdistan Information Office had been constantly watched by cameras of the surrounding buildings, such as the round angle cameras of the Carrefour shopping center across the office whose angle of field of view involve the entry of the office as well. It is inexplicable that the investigating units have yet to make an explanation on the subject.
FEYKA continued saying that As seen at the above-mentioned points, Sakine Cansýz is a Kurdish politician and a senior PKK official who is known by European state institutions (intelligence, security, Interpol and Europol). When this is the case, why couldn't this massacre be predicted and prevented beforehand?
The Federation noted that Kurdish institutions have provided investigating teams with all kinds of information and assistance for the clarification of the massacre and showed ultimate attention about not sharing the details of the investigation with the public to avoid adverse effects in the ongoing process.
FEYKA ended its statement by calling on French authorities and investigating teams to display the same sensitivity towards such a critical and significant incident...
FEYKA remarked that their suspicions over the objectivity of the investigation are growing and criticized French authorities for not denying the news that French and Turkish media have published since the day of the killings. Reports deemed misleading and hiding the truth, according to FEYKA, because all concerned with exonerating the Turkish state and accusing the Kurdish side. FEYKA asked authorities to explain how Turkey could be ruled out from the suspects even before the completion of the investigation into the execution of Sakine Cansýz, a co-founder of the PKK (Kurdistan Workers Party), Fidan Doðan, representative of the KNK (Kurdistan National Congress) in Paris and Kurdish youth movement member Leyla Þaylemez.
FEYKA remarked that the statements by AKP spokesman Hüseyin Çelik, who described the apparent assassination as an internal feud within the PKK in the morning of 10 January, a few hours after the bodies were discovered, hinted at how the investigation would progress.
The Federation cited two news reported by the French and Turkish media with the same approach. The first one is the Le Figaro report dated 10 Jan. 2013 which says that;
According to our information, the investigators do not believe in the theory of a triple homicide in France orchestrated by the Turkish secret services and instead are set to follow the PKK internal feud hypothesis. I do not see the Turkish state mount this type of operation in France, says a special police officer. The police and judicial cooperation is one of the areas where Paris and Ankara agree best. Exchanges of information take place between counter-terrorism judges of both countries. In these circumstances, it is unthinkable, even ridiculous, to see the Turkish state behind this murder ... "
("http://www.lefigaro.fr/actualite-france/2013/01/10/01016-20130110ARTFIG00423-trois-militantes-kurdes-abattues-a-paris.php?cmtpage=8)
The second news cited by FEYKA is Turkish Star daily news published on 20 Jan. 2013;
Following the execution of three PKK members in Paris, French intelligence unit identified the incident as an internal feud within the organization in a preliminary information report it has sent to Ankara. In the investigation into the assassination, the information flow between Paris and Ankara was led by both countries' intelligence services and police units which have also shared significant information about the organization's ties with the two men who were detained in Paris in connection with the killings.
( "http://haber.stargazete.com/guncel/paris-cinayetlerinde-flas-gelisme/haber-720999")
FEYKA asked the French authorities to answer to the following questions;
1) How can the authorities leading the investigation clear Turkey of any role yet before they have completed the investigation?
2) How can the Turkish authorities be provided with information sharing and cooperation while they should in fact still be viewed in a suspect position and while no details have been shared yet with the families and lawyers of the victims?
FEYKA also shared the following information on the investigation to make their concerns more apparent;
1) Sakine Cansýz is referred as a senior official in the file of an investigation that was launched against Kurdish politicians and patriots in France in 2009.
2) A document recently published by Wikileaks shows that the U.S. took an interest on Sakine Cansýz herself. The secret document dated 7 December 2007, written by Ross Wilson, the U.S. Ambassador for Ankara at time, and sent to the Foreign Department of Embassy Ankara and the Baghdad Embassy , says that; As the United States works together with Turkey to implement the President's directive for effective action against PKK terror, we must redouble our efforts to shut down the financial support that flows from Europe into PKK headquarters located in northern Iraq. First, we need to identify and interdict PKK money that is flowing into northern Iraq. This will require U.S., Iraqi, and European authorities to collaborate in a targeted effort that includes enhanced airport screening, more extensive customs procedures, and aggressive disruption of illicit cash transfers into northern Iraq and between northern Iraqi entities and PKK terrorists. Second, we will push the Turks to work more effectively to identify and interdict financial flows. MASAK, Turkey's Financial Crimes Investigation Board, is the GOT's sole money laundering and terrorist financing investigative body. It needs to streamline its investigations and work more effectively with financial police, prosecutors, and judges to effectuate successful prosecutions. Third, we should more sharply focus our work with the Europeans. Previous demarches sensitized the EU to PKK criminal activities. Now we need to narrow our focus by identifying and going after the two top targets of Rýza Altun and Sakine Cansýz. Given their previous arrests, cases against them have been started. We can help by providing the most extensive dossiers possible and coordinating with law enforcement and intelligence counterparts in Europe to ensure these two terrorists are incarcerated." ("http://wikileaks.org/cable/2007/12/07ANKARA2917.html" l "parC")
3) On 19 March 2007, Sakine Cansýz was taken into custody in the German city of Hamburg in accordance with the international warrant of arrest Turkey issued for her as a senior official of the PKK. Cansýz was released on 16 April for lack of evidence.
4) Turkish Prime Minister Erdoðan has made a striking statement on the three women murdered in Paris at the recent general meeting of ASKON (Association of Anatolian Lions Businessmen) on 12 January; On 5 November 2012, we sent a last message to French Interpol to report them that terrorist [referring to Cansýz] was in Paris, however to our regret the French state took no steps (...).
5) According to the information we received, Sakine Cansýz called someone from her German phone number some days before the killings but the person she called saw her number as a number from France. This situation, which means her phone had been tapped and forwarded to another number, needs to be clarified and explained by the units involved in the investigation.
6) The last time Sakine Cansýz went to France was on 6 January, three days before the killings took place. In consideration of the fact that these professional killings cannot be planned spontaneously in three days, it is possible to conclude that the execution had been planned much earlier.
7) The building of the Kurdistan Information Office had been constantly watched by cameras of the surrounding buildings, such as the round angle cameras of the Carrefour shopping center across the office whose angle of field of view involve the entry of the office as well. It is inexplicable that the investigating units have yet to make an explanation on the subject.
FEYKA continued saying that As seen at the above-mentioned points, Sakine Cansýz is a Kurdish politician and a senior PKK official who is known by European state institutions (intelligence, security, Interpol and Europol). When this is the case, why couldn't this massacre be predicted and prevented beforehand?
The Federation noted that Kurdish institutions have provided investigating teams with all kinds of information and assistance for the clarification of the massacre and showed ultimate attention about not sharing the details of the investigation with the public to avoid adverse effects in the ongoing process.
FEYKA ended its statement by calling on French authorities and investigating teams to display the same sensitivity towards such a critical and significant incident...
