Kurdish and French organisations protested yesterday in Paris at the official visit of Turkish President Erdoğan.

Police surrounded the Elysee palace as talks went on inside.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan met French President François Hollande in the Elysee Palace.

On the agenda were Turkish demands regarding Syria and Kobanê. French organisations issued written statements protesting Hollande meeting Erdoğan, while Kurdish and French groups tried to protest outside the Elysee Palace while the talks were going on.

Despite the police taking extensive security measures outside, the groups of protesters succeeded in reaching two gates to the palace, where they raised banners reading: “Murderer-Terrorist Erdoğan”

The two groups of protesters were surrounded by police. A third group reached another gate. After ID checks the protesters were made to wait outside the gates until Erdoğan had left the palace. Another protest took place outside the French Parliament where around 150 people protested Erdoğan’s visit.

French organisations had issued written the statements on the previous day, saying: “Erdoğan is not welcome in France,” adding that they would protest his visit.

In the Place des Invalides protesters carried banners reading “DAISH (ISIS): Erdoğan”, “Murderer Erdoğan” and “Protect Kobanê”. Armenian, Assyrian, Chaldean associations and French friends of the Kurds carried a banner reading “Solidarity with Kobanê against DAISH”.

There were speakers from the French Kurdistan Solidarity Association, MRAP, the PYD Paris representative and the Armenian Association in France.

French Kurdistan Solidarity Association Chair Sylvie Jan said she had returned a day before from visiting camps in Suruç, Mardin and Amed, adding that the victims of war were in a bad state.

Jan said that the war victims were only having their needs met by DBP municipalities, adding that it was disgraceful that Hollande should accept Erdoğan, despite his policy on Kobanê being known. Jan stressed that Turkey was attempting to attract other countries for its own interests in the region, adding: “Hollande should not engage with Turkey’s policy.”

PYD Paris representative Xalit İsa, a representative of the Armenian Federation and a speaker from the MRAP also made short speeches during which Hollande’s hosting Erdoğan was condemned and the message “Erdoğan is not welcome” was repeated.