French prosecutors have reopened an investigation into the 2013 murder of three Kurdish militants, a judicial source and lawyer for the families of the dead activists said on Thursday, a case that could impact France’s diplomatic relations with Turkey, Reuters reported.
France dropped all judicial proceedings related to the killings in Paris in early 2017 after the main suspect, a 34-year-old Turkish national, died of complications arising from a brain tumor a month before his trial was due to start.
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.
The families of three Kurdish women had filed a petition to relaunch the investigation on the killings which was closed after the demise of the suspect under suspicious circumstances in 2017.
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. (SCF with turkishminute.com)
