Kurds and their supporters have been holding a weekly vigil every Wednesday since 25 January 2021 in front of the United Nations Office at Geneva, calling on international institutions to fulfill their responsibilities in securing the physical freedom of Abdullah Öcalan.
This week’s Freedom Vigil for Abdullah Öcalan began with a one-minute moment of silence in memory of Sêvê Demir, Fatma Uyar, and Pakize Nayır, who were killed during the curfew imposed on 4 January 2016 in Silopi, a district of Şırnak (Şirnex), as well as Sakine Cansız, Fidan Doğan, and Leyla Şaylemez, who were assassinated in the 9 January 2013 Paris massacre. The vigil also honored the memory of all revolutionary martyrs.
Following the commemoration, the Geneva Martyr Sema Yüce Women’s Commune held a press statement to mark the third anniversary of the Second Paris Massacre.
In the statement, it was recalled that on 9 January 2013 in Paris, leading figures of the Kurdish freedom movement, Sakine Cansız, Fidan Doğan, and Leyla Şaylemez, were brutally murdered. The statement stressed that both the planning and execution of the massacre were the responsibility of the Turkish state. It further noted that the killing of Evin Goyî, Mir Perwer, and Abdurrahman Kızıl in Paris on 23 December 2022 was a continuation of the same mentality.
The statement underlined that despite the passage of 13 years since the massacre, justice has still not been delivered, arguing that the French state has covered up the case despite knowing the perpetrators.
The statement said, “Responsibility cannot be taken through secrecy and the concealment of truth. The Paris Massacre was planned and directly carried out by the Turkish state. Even the then French president pointed to the Turkish state in his public remarks.”
It was further stressed that the failure to clarify the 9 January Massacre paved the way for the Second Paris Massacre. The statement also said, “Had the first massacre been resolved, the true face of the Turkish state would have been exposed, and the policy of impunity would have been broken,” and added that both France and Turkey have avoided taking responsibility at the state level.
The statement said the Paris Massacre was not only an attack against the Kurdish people but also an assault on the women’s freedom struggle, adding that the slogan “Life for Freedom” has become a global symbol through this resistance.
Aleppo and Eastern Kurdistan in focus
The statement also drew attention to attacks against civilians in the Sheikh Maqsoud (Şêx Meqsûd) and Ashrafieh (Eşrefiye) neighborhoods of Aleppo, carried out by groups linked to the Turkish state and Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS). It said the attacks were planned and constituted war crimes under international law, stressing that “the people of Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh are not alone.”
The statement said the people of Eastern Kurdistan (Rojhilat), along with other oppressed peoples, have revolted against Iran’s fascist regime. It noted that the Iranian authorities have used executions as a tool of terror to suppress the resistance, resulting in the killing of dozens of civilians in a short period of time. The executions were described as a sign of the regime’s fear and desperation, while the resistance in Eastern Kurdistan was defined as a struggle for freedom against executions, prisons, and policies aimed at the destruction of people.
Call for mass march in Paris on 10 January
The statement concluded with the following call: “On the 13th anniversary of the Paris Massacre, we call on women, our people, and the democratic public to intensify the struggle against the genocidal Turkish state, the murderer of Sara, Ronahî, Rojbin, Evin Goyî, Sêvê Demir, Pakize Nayir, and Fatma Uyar. With the slogan ‘The murderer is known, why is France silent?’, we call on everyone to join the mass march to be held in Paris on 10 January and to demand that the French state take responsibility and be held accountable for both the first and second Paris Massacres.”