A protest against the attack on the Ahmet Kaya Cultural Center in Paris, in which three people were killed, turned into violence by PKK supporters. Demonstrators overturned and set fire to several vehicles in the French capital. Around 30 people were injured and 11 people were detained.
Streets in Paris, the capital of France, witnessed violent incidents with PKK sympathizer demonstrations. The protesters gathered in the Republic Square, threw stones, chairs and similar objects at the police who tried to prevent them, overturned at least four vehicles and rendered them unusable. Paris police chief Laurent Nunez said they “don’t understand” why violence suddenly erupted.
SUSPECT REFERRED TO PSYCHIATRIC CLINIC
Nunez reported that 11 people were arrested and 30 others were slightly injured after more than two hours of protests. Police intervened with tear gas against the protesters.
The protesters clashed with the police, criticizing the government and the police for failing to protect them. The Kurdish Democratic Council in France (CDK-F) noted that 6 Kurdish activists have been killed in Paris in the last 10 years and reacted by saying “We are being killed in broad daylight in the heart of Paris”. Meanwhile, the 69-year-old attacker was taken to a psychiatric center under police custody yesterday. The doctor who examined the suspect at the detention center before his transfer decided that he was not fit to be held there.
TO FRANCE: WILL YOU STILL REMAIN SILENT
Presidential Spokesperson İbrahim Kalın reacted against France regarding the terrorist organization PKK after the events and asked, “Will you still remain silent?” Ibrahim Kalın shared the footage of the violence committed by the supporters of the terrorist organization in Paris on his social media account. Kalın said, “This is the PKK in France, the terrorist organization you support in Syria. The same PKK has massacred thousands of Turks, Kurds and security forces in the last 40 years. Now they are burning the streets of Paris. Will you still remain silent?” he asked.
ATTACKED KURDS BECAUSE OF DAESH
The details of why William M., who carried out the attack in Paris that left three people dead and three others wounded, chose Kurds as his target are becoming clearer. William M., who left his home to kill “non-European foreigners”, targeted Kurds because they “captured them instead of killing them in their fight against DAESH”.
According to information provided by the prosecutor’s office, on the day of the attack, William M. first went to Saint-Denis, further north, but decided against the attack because of the small number of people there and went to his parents’ house. From there, he went on foot to Enghien street, where he knew the Ahmet Kaya Cultural Center was located, and opened fire at people he did not know beforehand.
FOREIGNER HATRED
The attacker, who described himself as depressed and suicidal, confirmed in his testimony that he had a “completely pathologized hatred of foreigners”. Since a burglary at his home in 2016, he has “always wanted to kill immigrants, foreigners”, William M. emphasized. He said that his only regret was that he could not commit suicide, that he had always told himself that if he committed suicide one day he would “take his enemies to the grave” and that by “enemies” he meant “all non-European foreigners”. The attacker, who was admitted to the psychiatric infirmary of the police station the previous day on doctor’s orders, will appear before a judge as soon as his health permits.
