The Kurdish Democratic Culture Movement (TEV-ÇAND) Europe said in a statement marking the 13th anniversary of the Paris massacres that revealing the truth is a human, moral, and conscientious duty.
The statement said: “Leading women who played a role in the Kurdish people’s freedom struggle, Sakine Cansız, Fidan Doğan, Leyla Şaylemez, Evîn Goyî, as well as the artist Mîr Perwer and the patriot Abdurrahman Kızıl, were brutally murdered by a fascist, genocidal system. These massacres carried out in Paris were not accidental, isolated, or ordinary attacks. They were the result and continuation of a century-long policy of denial and annihilation directed against the Kurdish people’s political existence, organized struggle, and will for freedom. For this reason, despite the passage of 13 years, the French state has become complicit in the crime by failing to reveal the truth, even though it knows those responsible for the massacre.”
The statement continued: “The massacre carried out on 9 January 2013 was not carefully investigated by the French state. A second Paris Massacre took place on 23 December 2022. For 13 years, our people across Europe have waged a major struggle in the streets, mobilizing all their forces to ensure that the massacre is brought to light and that those responsible are identified and prosecuted. This struggle represents the Kurdish people’s fight for existence and freedom against policies of annihilation and denial. In response to the policies of social destruction imposed on our people for a century, a freedom struggle has been carried forward for 52 years.
Through this struggle, the policies of annihilation and denial directed against the Kurdish people have been rendered ineffective, and Kurdish existence has ultimately become a reality recognized by all. With the Call and Manifesto for Peace and a Democratic Society put forward by Abdullah Öcalan, the Kurdish people’s freedom struggle, whose very existence has thus been affirmed, continues to grow and deepen under his leadership.
With this awareness, continuing the freedom struggle with the same determination on the 13th anniversary of the Paris Massacre and revealing the truth remains a human, moral, and conscientious duty.”
TEV-ÇAND called “on intellectuals and artists in France, as well as all Kurdish intellectuals and artists living across Europe, the people of Kurdistan, and all friends and democratic circles standing in solidarity, to attend the march and rally to be held today, 10 January.”