After months of tension, France wants to improve its relations with Turkey to the detriment of Kurds. On Tuesday, twelve Kurdish activists were arrested in simultaneous raids in Marseille, Paris and Draguignan. In addition, police officers searched the Kurdish Society Center (DKTM), a shop and several private apartments in Marseille. The basis for the security forces' action ordered by a Paris anti-terrorist judge is the suspicion of involvement in a “terrorist organization abroad” and the alleged financing of terrorism.

PCF: The price of this reconciliation is the criminalization of the Kurds

The French Communist Party (PCF) said: “This decision by the French authorities comes after Emmanuel Macron held talks with his counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to resolve recent tensions. Obviously, the price of this reconciliation is the criminalization of the Kurds of France, who campaign for democracy in Turkey through peaceful activities. This democracy has been undermined since the Islamic Conservatives of the AKP came into power and supported various jihadist terrorist organizations.”

The PCF called the wave of arrests “monstrous” and reminded that "just a week ago, Erdoğan initiated the ban proceedings against the HDP, arrested MPs and activists and withdraw from the Istanbul Convention for the Protection of Women from Violence by presidential decree."

The PCF condemned the police operations against the Kurdish community in the country in the strongest possible terms. “The activists who are threatened with death in their country must be released. All proceedings against them must be dropped. Macron and the European leaders have forgotten how much we owe the Kurds for their fight against ISIS obscurantism. Defending democracy means fighting Erdoğan's regime and standing up for the Kurds."

La France Insoumise: Macron in line with the Turkish dictator

Similar sharp reactions to the arrests came from La France Insoumise (Indomitable France). Its chair, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, raised the issue in the French parliament: “These are the usual methods of intimidation à la Macron. These raids take place just after an interview was broadcast by the president in which he spoke about his relations with the Islamist dictator Erdoğan.”

Mélenchon reminded that the interview was taped on 2 March, shortly after a video conference between Macron and Erdoğan. “Has Macron promised the Islamist president of Turkey that he will persecute the local Kurds?” ssked the politician.

The criminalization of Kurdish activism by the French security authorities is in line with that of the Turkish dictator. This “must stop immediately”, said Mélenchon, adding: “France must not pursue the same anti-Kurdish policy as the government in Ankara. The Kurds are our allies. In Syria they were the frontline fighters against ISIS obscurantism. The Kurds propose a democratic, social and feminist model for the region. France owes a lot to them."