At least three people have died and several have been injured in a shooting in the 10th district of Paris, in the heart of the French capital, and in front of a Kurdish cultural center.
The death of the activists has sparked protests in the area. The words of the political leaders did not calm the Kurdish community, which after the minister’s intervention before the press began a Loud protest that ended with clashes with law enforcement and damage to street furniture.
The agents replied with tear gas to calm downbut the demonstration, spontaneous, continued until late at night.
The suspect, with a record for racist attacks and who he had been released from prison on the 11th after having attacked an immigrant campwas retired from SNCF, the state railway company, where he worked as a conductor.
Meanwhile, the French extreme left published several messages pointing to the far-right ideology responsible for the shooting.
At least three people have been killed and several injured in a shooting in the 10th arrondissement of Paris. Photo: Teresa Suárez | EPA
The leader of La Francia Insumisa, Jean-Luc Mélenchonconsidered the act a “terrorist attack” and called for “greater protection” for the Kurdish community, while his party’s parliamentary spokesperson, Mathilde Panot, called for neutralizing “an extreme right that kills.” The leader far-right Marine Le PenFor his part, he limited himself to condemning the action and did not enter into the debate on its authorship.
As reported le parisien, the shooting took place near the Ahmet-Kaya Kurdish cultural center, at 16 Enghien Street. From french nationality, the author of the shots would be retired from SNCF, the state railway company, where he worked as a conductor. During his arrest, the police seized the gun he used to shoot.
[Mélenchon, el nuevo reto extremista para Macron tras Marine Le Pen]
protests for Saturday
The organization of the Kurdish Democratic Council, which brings together twenty-four associations of the Kurdish diaspora throughout France, has called a demonstration for Saturday in Paris to express their revulsion at the attack.
The French government has not linked this attack specifically to the existence of the cultural center, but the CDK, on its Twitter account, describes the deceased as “Kurdish militants”and a witness to the shooting has assured the Kurdish-Iraqi agency Rudaw that the three deceased were “activists of the Kurdish cause”.
The demonstration will begin around noon on the Place de la République in Parisas reported by the CDK -which brings together more than twenty Kurdish organizations- on its Twitter account, while a march in solidarity with the Kurdish people and in tribute to the victims of the shooting began this afternoon in Marseille.
