During the tribute, the crowd observed a minute’s silence for the three deceased and for those who “died for freedom.”
“What we feel is pain and mistrust, because this is not the first time this has happened,” said Esra, a 23-year-old student.
But soon after the situation became tense and some of the protesters began to burn vehicles and garbage containers, in addition to throwing objects at the police, who responded by firing tear gas.
“There were provocateurs who drove by in a vehicle with the Turkish flag and made the sign of the Gray Wolves, so that provoked the young people,” Berivan Firat, spokesman for the Kurdish Democratic Council in France (CDK-F), told BFMTV. , referring to the far-right Turkish nationalist organization.
In total, 11 people were arrested and 31 police officers were injured, reported the prefect of the Parisian police, Laurent Núñez.
In Marseille, in the south of the country, a similar march was also held, attended by hundreds of people.
The suspect, who managed to be controlled by passers-by who were passing by before the security forces intervened, was arrested with “a briefcase” with “two or three full magazines, a box of 45 caliber cartridges with at least 25 cartridges inside,” a source in the case said today.
The detainee, a retired train conductor of French nationality, attributed the shooting attack to being “racist,” said the same person close to the case, quoted by the AFP news agency.
Police will investigate the individual for murder, attempted murder, gun violence and racist gun law violations, a “circumstance (which) does not change the maximum penalty” to which the suspect is exposed, “which remains life imprisonment,” the prosecution said.
The event took place in rue d’Enghien, in the center of the French capital, in the vicinity of the Kurdish cultural organization Ahmet Kaya.
The shots caused panic shortly before French noon yesterday among residents of the neighborhood, a busy area, known as “la petite Turquie” (little Turkey), with shops, restaurants and bars.
The attack sent shockwaves through the local Kurdish community on the eve of the ninth anniversary of the murder of three Kurdish activists in the same Parisian neighborhood and led to a spontaneous demonstration, which ended in clashes with police.
The murdered woman was identified as Emine Kara, head of the Kurdish Women’s Movement in France, according to the CDK-F. She had requested political asylum, but she was denied, the same organization indicated.
The two men killed are Abdulrahman Kizil, “an ordinary Kurdish citizen” who frequented the association “every day”, and Mir Perwer, a Kurdish artist, political refugee, who is “persecuted in Turkey for his art”, the CDK-F said. .
French President Emmanuel Macron denounced a “hateful attack” against “the Kurds of France” and, at his request, the Paris Police Prefect and the Minister of Justice, Éric Dupond-Moretti, received representatives of the kurdish community.
“France is in mourning,” said Dupond-Moretti, who expressed his interest in meeting with the Kurdish delegation to “guarantee our unwavering support,” according to the CNews channel.
The official referred to the attack as a “racist crime” due to its “hateful” nature and differentiated it from a “terrorist act”, which he explained responds to adherence or not to a “claimed political ideology”.
For now, the terrorist track has been ruled out, but the minister said that everything will depend on how the investigation evolves.
The alleged shooter was arrested shortly after the tragedy and taken into police custody.
The attacker “wanted to attack foreigners” and “clearly acted alone,” French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said yesterday, noting that he also frequented a shooting range.
Slightly wounded in the face during his arrest, he had already been sentenced in June to 12 months in prison for acts of violence with weapons committed in 2016, a sentence that he appealed.
He was also charged in December 2021 with violence with weapons, premeditated and of a racist nature, and property damage for acts committed on December 8, 2021.
In this second case, he is suspected of having wounded migrants from a Parisian camp with a saber and of having torn their tents, a police source said at the time.
After a year in preventive detention, he was released on December 12 and was placed under judicial control, according to the Paris prosecutor.
In 2017, the man was sentenced to six months in prison for prohibited possession of weapons.
The 90-year-old father of the attacker described him as a “quiet” man, “really withdrawn” and stated that on the morning of the events “he did not say anything when he left.”
“My son is crazy (…) He was in jail for a year, his mother was trying to put him back behind bars,” he told channel M6.
Source: Ambito
David William is a talented author who has made a name for himself in the world of writing. He is a professional author who writes on a wide range of topics, from general interest to opinion news. David is currently working as a writer at 24 hours worlds where he brings his unique perspective and in-depth research to his articles, making them both informative and engaging.
