Sakine Cansiz, co-founder of PKK, two other women activists executed, found dead in Paris
Three Kurdish women, one of them a founding member of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) were found dead in Paris Thursday, described as “without a doubt an execution.”
The Wall Street Journal writes that “the Turkish government said [the killings] could be aimed at derailing new peace talks seeking to end a war that has killed 40,000 people since 1984.” As the BBC adds, “Turkey has recently begun talks with the jailed PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan, with the aim of persuading the group to disarm.”
The PKK flag photo by Herrn via wikipedia
Sakine Cansiz is a founding member of the PKK and first senior female member of the organization. She spent time in Turkish prisons in the ’80s and “was a commander of the women’s guerrilla movement in Kurdish areas of northern Iraq.”
French Interior Minister Manuel Valls said the killings were “surely an execution”.
“Rest assured that French authorities are determined to get to the bottom of these intolerable acts,” he said.
“I condemn this violence,” Turkish government spokesman Bulent Arinc told reporters. “This is utterly wrong. I express my condolences.”
A second woman has been named as Fidan Dogan, 32, who worked in the information centre. She was also the Paris representative of the Brussels-based Kurdistan National Congress.
The third, named as Leyla Soylemez, was a young activist.
