Families of Paris killings’ victims demand to reopen the probe

(Left to right) Leyla Söylemez, Sakine Cansız, Fidan Doğan.

The families of three Kurdish women who were assassinated in Paris on Jan. 9, 2013, have filed a petition to relaunch the investigation on the killings which was closed after the demise of the suspect under suspicious circumstances.

According to pro-Kurdish news sources, the families of slain Sakine Cansız, Fidan Doğan and Leyla Söylemez, who were affiliated with outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), have filed  charges to ensure to identify and to try the perpetrators who ordered the extrajudicial executions in Paris.

The PKK’s founding member Sakine Cansız, Kurdistan Enformation Bureau (KNK) Paris representative Fidan Doğan and Leyla Söylemez, who was a member of Kurdish youth movement, were assassinated in their Paris bureau. Suspect Ömer Güney died in prison on Dec. 17, 2016, just a few weeks before the trial. The trial was planned to start on Jan. 23, 2017 in Paris Criminal Court. However, the case was closed over Güney’s demise under suspicious circumstances.

Despite Ömer Güney was the only suspect in remand, the investigation had found some evidences that the Turkish Intelligence Organization (MİT) had a role in Paris assassinations. The probe had not identified the perpetrators who gave the order, however signs showed links to Ankara.

Stating that the court verdict to end the probe on Paris assassinations can only be applied to the demised suspect, lawyer Antoine Comte said that “Ömer Güney was merely a hitman for the very real attempt by the Turkish Intelligence to execute Kurdish militants in Europe. Political murders and overlooking them cannot be acceptable in France.”

Feb. 23, 2017

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