Masses took to the streets in the French city of Marseille and the German city of Frankfurt on Saturday demanding the exposure of those responsible for the triple murder in Paris of Sakine Cansız, Fidan Doğan and Leyla Şaylemez on 9 January 2013 and of Evîn Goyî, Mîr Perwer and Abdurrahman Kızıl on 23 December 2022.

HAMBURG

The march organized by Rojbin Women’s Council was attended by Kurds and their friends from Hamburg, Kiel, Bremen, Lübeck, Stade and Oldenburg.

Addressing the crowd after a minute of silence in memory of Paris martyrs at Hachmannplatz, women's rights activist and writer Anja Flach stated that Evîn Goyî had been deliberately targeted in the 23 December attack. Pointing to attempts to cover up the incident with the theory of a confused lone perpetrator, Anja Flach stressed that the French state should shed light on the massacre.

The march was followed by a rally at Damtor where former HDP MP Selma Irmak spoke: “As martyr Mehmet Tunç, a leading figüre of the Cizre resistance, said, massacres and atrocities will never make this people bow down. In order to pay its debt to the Kurds, the French state should expose the dark forces behind these massacres. No power will be able to hinder our struggle.”

MARSEILLE

Thousands gathered at Canebiere Square to pay tribute to Paris martyrs, displaying a banner that read “Expose the ten-year-old state secret for the sake of truth and justice”.

A declaration titled “Justice for Kurds” was read out during the march to the rally area, providing information about the involvement of Turkish secret service MIT in political assassinations.

Activists then expressed the demands in the name of the Kurdish Women’s Movement in Europe, stating:

“French authorities should lift the secrecy on the case of female political activists murdered in France and provide with all the documents to shed light on the triple murder in 2013.

The 2022 attack should be treated as a “terrorist act” and the investigation should expose the perpetrator’s relations while in prison and after his release.

Political refugees should be provided with true protection on French land and not be prevented from conducting social, political and diplomatic activities for the achievement of peace, freedom and democracy in Kurdistan, Turkey and the Middle East.”

The crowd then marched to the Municipality of Marseille where a rally was held with the participation of representatives of French Radical Solidarity, deputies, the mayor of Marseille, as well as representatives of several institutions.

Speakers here called for light to be shed on the massacres and vowed to increase the struggle.