2013 triple murder of Kurdish activists in Paris

March 2026 2013 murders in Paris, France 2022 Paris shooting at a Kurdish cultural center 2022 Paris shooting thumb|Demonstration in Paris on 11 January 2019. On the night of January 9th, 2013, Fidan Doğan, Sakine Cansiz and Leyla Şaylemez, three Kurdish women's activists, were assassinated in the 10th arrondissement of Paris.2013-01-11 Les trois militantes kurdes ont été assassinées de plusieurs balles dans la tête fr The three Kurdish activists were murdered with several bullets to the head Le Monde.fr Agence France-Presse https://www.lemonde.fr/societe/article/2013/01/11/les-trois-militantes-kurdes-executees-a-paris-de-plusieurs-balles-dans-la-tete_1815662_3224.html 2021-03-13 2021-04-11 https://web.archive.org/web/20210411021757/https://www.lemonde.fr/societe/article/2013/01/11/les-trois-militantes-kurdes-executees-a-paris-de-plusieurs-balles-dans-la-tete_1815662_3224.html live Despite a suspect being arrested, and the investigation into the shootings being reopened in 2019, the crime officially remains unsolved. The killings have sparked numerous protests among the Kurdish population in France. Assassinations During the night between Wednesday 9 and Thursday 10 January 2013, the bodies of Fidan Doğan (28), Sakine Cansız (54) and Leyla Şaylemez (24) – all three Kurdish women activists – were found in the premises of the Centre d'Information sur le Kurdistan located on 147 Rue La Fayette in Paris. Each of them were shot execution-style with several bullets in the head and neck. Victims Sakine Cansız was one of the co-founders of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), Fidan Dogan was a member of the Kurdistan National Congress and also involved at the Kurdistan Information Center in Paris, which is considered a liaison office to the PKK by France Info and Leyla Saylemez was an activist in the Kurdish youth movement.Fidan Dogan, l'une des trois militantes kurdes assassinées à Paris a vécu à Strasbourg https://france3-regions.francetvinfo.fr/grand-est/2013/01/10/l-une-des-trois-militantes-kurdes-assassinees-paris-vecu-strasbourg-178341.html 2023-03-26 France 3 Grand Est October 2013 fr-FR Suspect Ömer Güney was soon identified as the person who was in the building during the murders as he was on the on recordings of the surveillance camera. He was described as a Turk, a supporter of the far-right Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) by his contacts in Munich. Investigations According to investigations by French authorities, it is possible that Turkey's National Intelligence Organization (MİT) is involved in the murders.Seelow Soren 2015-07-22 Assassinat de militantes kurdes à Paris: la justice souligne l'implication des services secrets turcs fr Assassination of Kurdish activists in Paris: justice highlights the involvement of the Turkish secret services Le Monde.fr https://www.lemonde.fr/police-justice/article/2015/07/23/assassinat-de-militantes-kurdes-a-paris-la-justice-pointe-l-implication-des-services-secrets-turcs_4694801_1653578.html live 2021-03-14 2021-08-27 https://web.archive.org/web/20210827203024/https://www.lemonde.fr/police-justice/article/2015/07/23/assassinat-de-militantes-kurdes-a-paris-la-justice-pointe-l-implication-des-services-secrets-turcs_4694801_1653578.html The suspected murderer, Ömer Güney, was a 34 year old Turkish maintenance employee at Paris Charles de Gaulle airport. Video cameras at the site of the murder show that he was inside the building between 00:11 and 00:56 when the deaths occurred. Gunpowder was found on his bag. Technical investigations were performed on his Nokia mobile phone and experts decrypted it and restored deleted files. They found images taken the day before (8 January) establishing that he was in the premises of a Kurdish association in Villers-le-Bel between 4:23 and 5:33 in the morning and took pictures of 329 memberships files. Two days before, he took pictures of accounting tracing alleged racketeering activity inside the Kurdish community.9 January 2014 Kurdes assassinées: La piste politique Murdered Kurds: the political trail http://www.lexpress.fr/actualite/societe/fait-divers/kurdes-assassinees-la-piste-politique_1312649.html L'Express French 4 May 2017 8 February 2017 https://web.archive.org/web/20170208035511/http://www.lexpress.fr/actualite/societe/fait-divers/kurdes-assassinees-la-piste-politique_1312649.html live While Güney initially presented himself to authorities as "Kurdish at heart" and sympathetic to the PKK, his relatives described him as a Turkish ultranationalist who defined himself as a "gray wolf", a Turkish neo-fascist organization which positions itself against Kurdish political projects. A few months after these murders, an audio recording between Ömer Güney and suspected MİT agents was released on the Internet.Diehl Jörg Gezer Özlem Schmid Fidelius 2014-02-10 Und Gott bewahre French And God forbid 7 Spiegel Online https://www.spiegel.de/spiegel/print/d-124956822.html live 31 May 2019 https://web.archive.org/web/20200809152447/https://www.spiegel.de/spiegel/print/d-124956822.html 2020-08-09 Omer Güney also had hundreds of pictures of Kurdish activists in his mobile phone. Anti-terrorist judge Jeanne Duyé was in charge of investigations; in September 2013, her computer was stolen from her home in a burglary.Vinocur Nicholas 23 October 2013 French investigation into Kurdish murders eyes Turkey connections en Reuters https://www.reuters.com/article/us-france-kurds-insight-idUSBRE99M03Q20131023 30 May 2019 31 May 2019 https://web.archive.org/web/20190531001257/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-france-kurds-insight-idUSBRE99M03Q20131023 live Ömer Güney was detained on the 21 January 2013. The French anti-terrorism unit Sous-direction anti-terroriste[fr] found a passport with three stamps from journeys to Turkey behind the radio in a car he borrowed the day of the murder. thumb|Fidan Doğan in Strasbourg in 2012The prosecution stated Güney had frequent contacts with Turkish secret services and was proven to be involved in espionage.2015-07-23 French inquiry implicates Turkish secret services in Paris Kurds' murder https://www.rfi.fr/en/europe/20150723-french-inquiry-implicates-turkish-secret-services-paris-kurds-murder 2021-03-14 RFI en 2021-04-02 https://web.archive.org/web/20210402220306/https://www.rfi.fr/en/europe/20150723-french-inquiry-implicates-turkish-secret-services-paris-kurds-murder live The judge considered the involvement of Turkish secret services in the murder to be a possibility, but didn't establish who ordered the operation and if the murderer acted according to the will of the top management or not. On 13 December 2016, Ömer Güney was moved to a hospital for urgent care connected to his brain tumor and he died the next day, five weeks before the scheduled start of his trial.Omer Güney, assassin présumé de trois militantes kurdes à Paris, meurt avan Omer Güney, alleged assassin of three Kurdish activists in Paris, dies before his trial https://www.20minutes.fr/societe/1982627-20161217-omer-gney-assassin-presume-trois-militantes-kurdes-paris-meurt-avant-proces 2022-08-28 www.20minutes.fr 17 December 2016 fr 2022-03-27 https://web.archive.org/web/20220327135249/https://www.20minutes.fr/societe/1982627-20161217-omer-gney-assassin-presume-trois-militantes-kurdes-paris-meurt-avant-proces live 2015-08-13 Militantes kurdes assassinées à Paris : le suspect renvoyé devant les assises Kurdish activists murdered in Paris: the suspect returned to the Assize https://www.leparisien.fr/faits-divers/militantes-kurdes-assassinees-a-paris-le-suspect-renvoye-devant-les-assises-13-08-2015-5008789.php live https://web.archive.org/web/20201101121314/https://www.leparisien.fr/faits-divers/militantes-kurdes-assassinees-a-paris-le-suspect-renvoye-devant-les-assises-13-08-2015-5008789.php 2020-11-01 2020-10-28 leparisien.fr fr-FR Shortly after Güney died, France decided to close the investigation into the murders.2019-05-15 France reopens probe into killing of 3 Kurdish activists https://www.france24.com/en/20190515-france-reopens-probe-killing-3-kurdish-activists 2019-05-31 France 24 en 2021-01-04 https://web.archive.org/web/20210104070203/https://www.france24.com/en/20190515-france-reopens-probe-killing-3-kurdish-activists live In May 2019 the investigation was reopened.https://www.reuters.com/article/us-france-kurds-investigation-idUSKCN1SM18U France reopens inquiry into 2013 murder of Kurdish militants 2019-05-16 Reuters 2019-05-31 en 2020-06-05 https://web.archive.org/web/20200605082119/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-france-kurds-investigation-idUSKCN1SM18U live Eyyup Doru, a representative of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) speculated that the primary target of the triple assassination might have been Fidan Doğan because of her social and political connections in France.http://www.slate.fr/story/133979/guerre-de-lombre L'impossible vérité sur l'assassinat de trois Kurdes à Paris www.slate.fr 2017-01-11 Ariane Bonzon fr-FR 2020-03-28 2021-04-14 https://web.archive.org/web/20210414054649/http://www.slate.fr/story/133979/guerre-de-lombre live Lawyer Sylvie Boitel explained that this young woman was very clever and had three cultures: French, Turkish and Kurdish. One of brothers said that she met French President François Hollande several times when he was leader of the Socialist Party. 2013-01-16 Le frère d'une des Kurdes témoigne The brother of one of the Kurds testifies http://www.leparisien.fr/archives/le-frere-d-une-des-kurdes-temoigne-16-01-2013-2484611.php live 2019-07-27 Le Parisien fr-FR 2019-07-27 https://web.archive.org/web/20190727065843/http://www.leparisien.fr/archives/le-frere-d-une-des-kurdes-temoigne-16-01-2013-2484611.php Hollande admitted to have had contact to one of the three women often which was condemned by the Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan.12 January 2013 Erdoğan verärgert über Hollandes PKK-Kontakte https://www.zeit.de/politik/ausland/2013-01/pkk-frankreich-hollande-erdogan 2023-03-27 Die Zeit Erdogan rejected the claims from Kurdish activists that Turkey was involved in the murders, but suggested that it may have been a rift within the PKK, who wanted to obstruct the peace process. Metin, the brother of Sakine Cansiz, claimed that France was responsible because she was killed in France and the murderer died in jail before trial, going on to point out that since the slaying neither the President nor Prime Minister of France has contacted the families of the victims.Bonzon Ariane 2017-01-11 L'impossible vérité sur l'assassinat de trois Kurdes à Paris The impossible truth about the assassination of three Kurds in Paris http://www.slate.fr/story/133979/guerre-de-lombre 2022-08-28 Slate.fr fr-FR January 11, 2017 I hold France responsible. Because my sister was killed on French soil and the one who killed my sister died in prison, preventing the trial from taking place, 2021-04-14 https://web.archive.org/web/20210414054649/http://www.slate.fr/story/133979/guerre-de-lombre live Aftermath On 17 January in Diyarbakir, Turkey tens of thousands of Kurds remembered the three women in a ceremony.Reynolds James 2013-01-17 Calls for peace at slain PKK activists' funerals en-GB https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-21067927 2019-07-27 2021-09-26 https://web.archive.org/web/20210926115047/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-21067927 live Funerals Each woman was buried in her hometown: Cansız in Tunceli, Doğan in Kahramanmaraş, and Söylemez in Mersin. Thousands took to the streets in Diyarbakır to pay their respects. The crowds chanted “The martyrs’ path is our path,” as the coffins were carried.August 2022 Fidan Doğan was buried in her family's village in the Elbistan district of Kahramanmaraş province, Turkey. The funeral, conducted by an Alevi dede, was attended by around 5,000 people, her coffin wrapped in the flag of the PKK whilst mourners wore white scarves to symbolise peace. The mourners included Peace and Democracy Party co-chair Gülten Kışanak, and deputies Nursel Aydoğan, Ayla Akat Ata, Hasip Kaplan as well as the mayor of Diyarbakır Osman Baydemir. Speaking at the Funeral Kışanak is quoted as saying; "We promise to all Kurdish women and these three women: We will bring peace and freedom to this land.”Paris killing victim buried with participation of thousands - Türkiye News https://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/paris-killing-victim-buried-with-participation-of-thousands-39380 2022-08-28 Hürriyet Daily News 18 January 2013 en 2022-08-08 https://web.archive.org/web/20220808115224/https://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/paris-killing-victim-buried-with-participation-of-thousands-39380 live Protests On the third anniversary of the assassinations thousands in Paris attended to protest among other reasons for justice and to denounce “crimes by the Turkish regime”. Carrying the flag of the PKK and portraits of Abdullah Öcalan the marched lead to the scene of the killing, where flowers were laid in memory of the victims. Sakine Cansiz's brother Haydar who travelled from Germany for the march told the press: “Sakine's fight goes on. We will continue to march until we have obtained justice.”2016-01-09 Thousands of Kurds protest in Paris over women's murders https://english.alarabiya.net/News/world/2016/01/09/Thousands-of-Kurds-protest-in-Paris-over-women-s-murders- 2022-08-28 Al Arabiya English en 2021-05-13 https://web.archive.org/web/20210513122957/https://english.alarabiya.net/News/world/2016/01/09/Thousands-of-Kurds-protest-in-Paris-over-women-s-murders- live See also List of assassinations of the Kurdish Workers' Party insurgency Further reading Triple Assassinat au 147, Rue Lafayette (en:Triple assassination at 147, rue Lafayette) by Laure Marchand. (Published by Actes Sud) [9782330068899] - An investigation into the murders and links with the Turkish secret services. It outlines the biographies of the three women and discusses the politics of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.Flora Olive 2017-01-25 Retour sur l'assassinat de trois militantes kurdes à Paris A look back at the assassination of three Kurdish activists in Paris https://www.parismatch.com/Actu/International/Retour-sur-l-assassinat-de-trois-militantes-kurdes-a-Paris-1172876 2022-08-28 parismatch.com French 2021-01-04 https://web.archive.org/web/20210104070157/https://www.parismatch.com/Actu/International/Retour-sur-l-assassinat-de-trois-militantes-kurdes-a-Paris-1172876 live References Category:2013 in Paris Category:2013 murders in France Category:10th arrondissement of Paris Category:Deaths by firearm in France Category:January 2013 crimes in Europe Category:January 2013 in France Category:Terrorist incidents in Paris Category:Violence against women in France Category:History of the Kurdistan Workers' Party Category:2010s murders in Paris Category:Kurds in France Category:Assassinations in France Category:France–Turkey relations Category:Terrorist incidents in France in 2013 Category:Grey Wolves (organization) attacks Category:2022 in international relations Category:Neo-fascist terrorist incidents in France Category:2013 mass murders Category:21st-century mass murders in France Category:Female murder victims in France Category:Neo-fascist terrorist incidents in the 2010s