Statement In Memory of Three Kurdish Activists Killed in Paris

[The following statement was issued by the EU Turkey Civic Commission on 9 January 2013.]

In Memory of Our Friends: Sakine Canziz, Fidan Dogan, and Leyla Söylemez

It was with shock and grief we received the horrible news about the deaths of our dear friends who were massacred in Paris today in the most grotesque way. Sakine Canziz, the co-founder of the PKK in 1978, holds a crucial role in the party. Fidan Dogan (Rojbin), a Kurdistan National Congress (KNK) member from Paris, has also been working closely alongside the EUTCC for many years and her work has been very important to our international work for the Kurds.

The assassination of the three highly valued female politicians is a coup against the organised negotiation talks taking place on Imrali between the Turkish state and the PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan. The Paris-tragedy shows that the “deep dark forces,” the enemies of peace, are opposing the new political process to such a degree that they found it necessary to assassinate three Kurdish female politicians who were working for a solution and for peace.

French authorities should immediately stop the criminalisation of Kurds working for a peaceful settlement to the Kurdish problem. The Kurds in France and in the rest of Europe constitute no threat to the authorities in the countries they live. On the contrary, they are working firmly towards a solution to the problems in Turkey and should be rewarded instead of being criminalised, persecuted, incarcerated as the Kurdish diplomat Adem Uzun, or killed. The reason of the killings and the forces behind are still to be unveiled – and they will be. These people should know that such killings or whatever provocation they might conduct in the future will not stop the ongoing peace process. Even the deaths of Sakine, Fidan, and Leyla will scare other Kurds to continue on the hopeful road to peace.

The EUTCC hereby send their sincere and deep-felt condolences to the families of Sakine, Fidan, and Leyla, and extend it to the Kurdish people all over the world. Evil forces in whatever shape they take will never defeat the Kurdish people’s genuine will to freedom – it only empowers them to work harder to obtain it.

Sakine Canziz, Fidan Dogan and Leyla Söylemez’s tireless work for the Kurdish people will forever stand as a monument of their memory.

Kariane Westrheim
Chair of EUTCC

Michael Gunter
Secretary General

Hans Brancheidt
Board of Directors

Judge Essa Moosa
Board of Directors