Three Kurdish activists were killed and three others injured in the armed attack on 23 December on the Ahmet Kaya Cultural Centre, a Kurdish restaurant and a Kurdish-run barbershop on Rue d'Enghien in the tenth arrondissement of Paris. The victims of the targeted attack are Evîn Goyî (Emine Kara), a member of the KCK (Kurdistan Communities Union) Executive Council, YPJ (Women’s Defense Units) veteran in the fight against ISIS and leading representative of the Kurdish women's movement, musician Mîr Perwer (M. Şirin Aydın) and long-time activist Abdurrahman Kızıl.

While the Kurdish community in France will bid farewell to the three martyrs on 3 January 2023, the largest umbrella organization of the Kurdish Diaspora in Germany, KON-MED, released a written statement urging Kurds to participate in the farewell tomorrow:

“Three of our friends were martyred in a terrorist attack in Paris on December 23. We know that this massacre, which took place in the same place ten years after the triple murder of three Kurdish women, was no coincidence. The Turkish State is clearly committing massacres against the Kurdish people in front of the eyes of the whole world. If the French judiciary had revealed the triple murder in Paris in 2013, the massacre on December 23 would not have occurred. We know very well that these massacres were carried out by the Turkish State. There are cliques within the French State that were partners in this massacre. The French judiciary should immediately expose all these dirty relations and bring those responsible to account.

The reaction of the European Union to all the fascist and murderous policies of Erdoğan remains weak. While sanctions should be introduced immediately against such a fascist leader, Turkey could carry out a massacre in the heart of Europe thanks to the dirty relations they have established. This is shameful for humanity. The Turkish State, which pursues all kinds of fascist policies against the Kurdish people in Turkey and in Kurdistan, is now able to kill the Kurdish people in the heart of Europe. This shows that the relationship established with the EU states is decisive.

These massacres against the Kurds cannot be thought of independently of the criminalization of Kurdish institutions in Europe. The policies to criminalize Kurdish institutions, particularly in Germany, should be ended. Arrests and repression policies against Kurdish politicians in Germany are part of these policies. German authorities should put an end to the terrorist acts of Turkey in Europe, rather than pursue these policies. And we know that there are assassination lists to eliminate Kurdish politicians living in Germany. Rather than cracking down on the Kurdish people, the German state should reveal the plannings of the massacres that the Turkish government wants to carry out in Germany and expose all the dirty relations to the public.

As the Kurdish people, we will definitely bring those responsible for these massacres to account. The French judiciary should stay away from attitudes that may disturb the public conscience, French society in particular.

We will hold the killers of our martyrs accountable through all democratic and legal methods. We urge all Kurdish people living in Germany and Paris to fulfil their duties towards our martyrs. We will send off the bodies of our three martyrs to Kurdistan on Tuesday (Jan. 3). Let us bid farewell to our martyrs in the strongest way possible to cherish their memory.”