Seven years ago the Kurdish revolutionaries Sakine Cansız, Fidan Doğan and Leyla Şaylemez were murdered in Paris by the Turkish secret service. Until today nobody has been prosecuted for the crime.

In a statement marking the seventh anniversary of the triple murder, the Executive Council of the Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK, Koma Civakên Kurdistanê) pointed out the special responsibility of France in the investigation of the murders in Paris on January 9, 2013. If the country does not ensure a complete clarification and answer to the question of who was involved and the responsibility of Turkish institutions, the murders will go down in French history as the second Dreyfus affair, KCK said.

The murder of three revolutionary women from Kurdistan was committed by the MIT assassin Ömer Güney in the centre of Paris near the busiest railway station Gare du Nord at 157 rue La Fayette. The bodies of the women drenched in blood remained at the scene for more than half a day in the Kurdistan Information Centre. After hours had passed without any sign of life from the women and the worries had grown, three people opened the door of the centre in the middle of the night. When they found the horrifying scene inside, it was already after 1.00 am, and 10 January. The bodies of the three women laid on the floor, shot in the head with several bullets.

"Unless France tolerates the triple murder, it must expose the crime and bring the forces behind the assassin to justice. Otherwise, it would be absurd to speak of justice in France. If the French judicial authorities do not accuse the masterminds behind this massacre, it will be them who are responsible for the murders,” said the KCK and called on intellectuals, democrats, women and "people of conscience" to work for the prosecution of those responsible.

In August 2017, two high-ranking agents of the Turkish secret service MIT were arrested during a special operation of the People's Defense Forces (HPG) in Southern Kurdistan. They are the two MIT department heads Erhan Pekçetin and Aydın Günel, who last held leading positions in the departments for separatist activities and human resources and who prepared an assassination attempt on the PKK leadership when they were captured by the guerrillas. In their statements they confirmed that the Paris murders were planned and carried out by the Turkish secret service MIT.

"The deaths of Sakine Cansız, Fidan Doğan and Leyla Şaylemez have brought our revolutionary anger to the top. We promised to avenge the triple murder and kept our word. With the revenge action in memory of Sakine Cansız (Sara) we have succeeded in carrying out one of the biggest revolutionary operations. One of the reasons and duties of the PKK to appear on the stage of history was to give criminals the punishment they deserve. From now on, no treason or crime will go unpunished,” stressed the statement.

Memorial demonstration

On 11 January, a massive commemorative demonstration will be held in Paris on the occasion of the seventh anniversary of the death of Sakine Cansız, Fidan Doğan and Leyla Şaylemez. The Kurdish movement calls for participation in the rally to demand the punishment of their murderers.