On 25 December, a Turkish fascist stabbed the Kurdish hairdresser Avşin Zikrî with a pair of scissors in the northern French city of Roubaix. The fascist had previously insulted and threatened the hairdresser because he was listening to Kurdish music. The attack took place two days after the Paris attack in which Emine Kara (Evîn Goyî), Şirîn Aydın (Mîr Perwer) and Abdurrahman Kızıl were murdered.

Avşin Zikrî was born in Hewlêr (Erbil) in Southern Kurdistan (Northern Iraq) and has been living in Lille since 2017. In the meantime, his life is out of danger, but according to doctors, he will need treatment for some time. He has five serious stab wounds, including to the heart.

Speaking to ANF in the hospital in Lille, Avşin Zikrî described the attack on him as follows: "I got up in the morning like every day and went to work. While I was working, the attacker came at around 2 p.m. Kurdish music was playing. Without greeting me, he said directly: 'Why is Kurdish music being played here, turn it off or something else on'. I replied: 'Why does Kurdish music bother you, who does it harm? We listen to Kurdish, French, English, Arabic and other music.' After that, he continued to have his hair cut. When he got up, he pushed me. And he gave another Kurdish customer a fist punch."

In order not to escalate the situation further, Zikrî went outside with his customer. "He had taken a pair of scissors in his hand. I went outside with my Kurdish customer. After five to ten minutes, I heard that he was talking on the phone in Turkish. Because I thought he was calling his friends, we wanted to drive away. My friend got into the car, and I was about to get in when I saw him arrive with a pair of scissors in his hand."

"THE ATTACKER WANTED TO MURDER ME"

Avşin Zikrî said that he had no chance to react: "He stabbed with the scissors. At first, I felt almost nothing, but then he hit the heart area. There was a lot of blood. I wanted to call an ambulance. Those present put me on the floor and he went at me again. Only when the police came did he move away. His aim was to kill me. After the police and the ambulance arrived, my eyes went black because of the blood loss, and I felt dizzy. What happened next, I don't know."

The perpetrator was clearly hostile to Kurds, Zikrî noted. "I don't think I will continue to live here. The probability that I will be attacked again is very great. The perpetrator in Paris also came out of prison and attacked Kurds. No one can guarantee that this person will not do the same thing again," said Avşin Zikrî, who demands a maximum sentence for the perpetrator from the French justice system.

"THE ONLY REASON WAS HATRED OF KURDS"

Zikrî's friend Zana Selimi said: "Turks attack Kurds everywhere. They are inculcated with racism. They are hostile to Kurds. This attack was not the first. Even if the Turks murder all the Kurds, they won't be relieved, their hatred is so great. Avşin is a person who simply lives and works for a living. The attacker's only motive was his hatred of Kurds. He wanted to kill. What has taken place here is the continuation of the attack in Paris. The perpetrator is now in prison, but if he is released, the Paris scenario will repeat itself. These people are hateful. Even after ten years, the mentality has not changed."