France Democratic Kurdish Council, Kurdish Women’s Movement and France Solidarity with Kurdistan National Coordination held a joint press statement on the massacre where Sakine Cansiz, Fidan Doğan and Leyla Şaylemez were murdered five years ago in Paris.

Paris Bar Association member and lawyer to the three revolutionary Kurdish women Antoine Comte stated that many arguments and documents in the current files clearly show the perpetrators and mentioned a speech Erdoğan gave in April during the presidential elections: “At that time, regarding the massacre in question, Erdoğan had said some forces within the Turkish state had committed murders in Paris. He even said this massacre was committed to sabotage the peace process. This speech also showed the responsibility of the Turkish state in this matter. Today he needs to be reminded of this speech. He needs to be asked what happened to the organizers of the massacre.” Comte also pointed out France’s responsibility in this process.

Comte said the name Sebahattin Asal which the KCK statement mentions was also present in the document published in 2014 and said: “We had learned through a statement by German Secret Service that the man in question is a member of the MİT. The German Secret Service had previously stated that the men in question were members of the Turkish MİT and held meetings in the name of Turkey, and that Germany froze relations with them after the document in question had been published. German media also reported on this. Turkey needs to deliver these names to France. France needs to courageously pursue this matter.

“CONCRETE EVIDENCE WILL PUT ERDOĞAN ON TRIAL TOO”

When journalists asked whether Erdoğan could be put on trial due to this incident, Comte said:

“This new piece of information will also be a new argument for the case to move forward. It is important. But more clear documents are needed: written documents, videos, testimony by individuals, etc. We will continue to pursue the legal process. On the other hand, regarding Erdoğan’s responsibility and the possibility of his trial, concrete evidence is needed for that. French justice has previously tried various cases on the presidents and ministers of Libya. Or, in the incident where 30 Basque people were killed in France, France ruled that the then-Interior Minister of Spain was responsible. We need concrete elements to launch a legal process. There needs to be not statements but rather elements such as photographs, documents and videos. During the Macron-Erdoğan meeting, journalists should ask if Erdoğan confirms his speech in April 2015 and what happened to the murderers, and whether Turkey will hand over the people tied to the incident to France and what position these individuals hold now.”

On the continuation of the case, Comte said: “This is a matter of political will. The Prosecution accepted an appeal we submitted against the individuals who planned the massacre. The real problem in this investigation’s launch is this: Will the Prosecution dare an investigation and trial for the background of the massacre and those who ordered the massacre? We submitted extra complementary documents for the case. The question whether the Prosecution will handle the process that reaches the MİT again with courage still stands. There will either be impunity in the face of assassinations and murders like in the past, or this matter will be pursued with courage to have justice served.

"DEATH SQUADS LOOKING TO DISBAND KURDS"

“The Paris Anti-Terror Prosecutor has launched an investigation for the case regarding the three Kurdish women, but they will have to clearly expose incidents in all European countries,” said Comte and continued:

“Because there are death squads looking to disband Turkish and Kurdish opposition members. There are cases in Germany and Belgium, and these are all tied to France. We must unearth all of these, and looking at all these incidents, we will see how afraid the French government is when it comes to these groups and death squads attempting to murder the opposition among European countries.”

Comte stated that there needs to be a legal battle throughout Europe, but the cases in Germany in particular have confidentiality orders and thus they can’t access information.