Despite the years that have passed since two separate attacks targeting the Kurdish movement in Paris, the perpetrators and the forces behind them have yet to be exposed. Following the massacres carried out on 9 January 2013 and 23 December 2022, the ongoing “policy of impunity” has remained at the center of public criticism.
On the anniversary of the second massacre, a commemoration was organized in front of the Paris Democratic Kurdistan Center. Photographs, flowers, and candles were placed at the sites where Evîn Goyî (Emine Kara), Mîr Perwer, and Abdurrahman Kızıl were killed. At the same event, Sakine Cansız (Sara), one of the founders of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), along with Fidan Doğan (Rojbin), the Paris representative of the Kurdish National Congress (KNK), and Leyla Şaylemez (Ronahî), who was a member of the Kurdish youth movement, were also remembered.
Regarding the first massacre, calls were renewed for France to lift the designation of “state secrecy” to allow progress in the case and to bring the real perpetrators to trial. In relation to the second massacre, demands were voiced for the anti-terror prosecutor’s office to take over the investigation. The French judiciary is currently conducting the probe into the 2022 killings on the basis of an alleged “racist motive,” a framing that has raised serious doubts about whether possible connections will be fully uncovered.
We will not mourn, we will demand accountability
Photographs of those killed in both massacres were carried in front of the Democratic Kurdistan Center during the commemoration. The ceremony began with a one-minute moment of silence, after which the first message was delivered by the Democratic Kurdish Council in France (CDK-F) Co-Chairs Fevziye Erdemirci and Azad Doğan.
On behalf of CDK-F, Fevziye Erdemirci said: “This dark day is still a heavy pain for us. Until these massacres are brought to light and the secret files are opened, we will not leave here, and we will continue to pursue this case. We will not mourn; we will demand accountability.”
They will not make us forget
On behalf of the European Kurdish Women’s Movement (TJK-E), Cahide Goyî commemorated all those who lost their lives and said: “The perpetrators are known. The French state is trying to make us forget through its silence. But we will not forget, and we will not allow this to be forgotten.”
Mayor: An attack on a Kurd is an attack on all Parisians
Alexandra Cordebard, Mayor of Paris’s 10th arrondissement, said: “There was no other place we could have been on such a day of commemoration. We remember that day with both sorrow and anger.”
The mayor continued: “We lost three people from among us. I say ‘from among us’ because whenever a Kurdish woman or man is attacked on the soil of Paris, all Parisian women and men are attacked. It is an attack on everything that brings us together.”
Cordebard said that justice has still not been served despite 13 years having passed since the first massacre.
She said: “Even after the 2022 attack, the anti-terror prosecutor’s office has still not taken over the case. If this had been any other incident, that prosecutor’s office would have intervened.” She added that she would continue to stand in solidarity with the Kurdish people and underlined the importance of living together.
Political feminicide
French Communist Party (PCF) member Hélène Bidard, Deputy Mayor of the Paris Metropolitan Municipality, saluted the Kurdish women’s movement and described the 2013 massacre as a case of “political feminicide.” Stressing that the women targeted were engaged in politics, Bidard said: “They were bearers of peace. Kurdish women represent peace and justice across the world. That is why they were targeted.”
Left-wing candidate: The time for justice for the martyrs will come
Emmanuel Grégoire, the left’s candidate for the Paris Metropolitan Municipality in the 2026 local elections, commemorated those killed in both massacres and underlined that there are suspicions of ‘state terrorism’ in both cases. Noting that the investigation into the 2013 massacre has still not been completed, Grégoire said:
“Paris will continue to be a city of protection. Above all, it will be a land of absolute democratic freedom of expression, a land of rights for Kurds across the world and for Kurds in Kurdistan. No threat, whether from groups or from foreign states, will be tolerated, forgiven, or forgotten.”
The Kurdish struggle is Paris’ memory
The left-wing candidate said that Kurds who took part in the struggle against ISIS are also part of Paris’ memory and will always be remembered and added: “Above all, we want the truth to be revealed, the state to assume responsibility, and justice. The time for justice for the martyrs of 2013 and 2022 will come.”
SOS Racisme President Dominique Sopo criticized the failure to ensure the safety of those who came seeking protection, stressing the importance of “persistently continuing this long struggle for justice.” Sopo also reacted to the refusal to lift state secrecy, underlining that they stand with the Kurds and with the truth.
The commemoration was attended by left-wing senator Ian Brossat, Raphaëlle Primet, co-chair of the Communist Group in the Paris City Council, Dylan Boutiflat from the Socialist Party, Pascal Torre, co-chair of the France–Kurdistan Friendship Association, and the anti-racism movement MRAP (Movement against Racism and for Friendship between Peoples).