Fabien Roussel, the national secretary of the French Communist Party (PCF), released an appeal calling for the widest possible mobilisation on 23 December and 6 January to put an end to impunity and demand justice for the Kurdish activists who were victims of the terrorist acts committed in the heart of Paris in 2013 and 2022.

In a video message on X, Roussel recalled both massacres, the first one of which claimed the lives of PKK founding member Sakine Cansız, KNK representative Fidan Doğan and Kurdish Youth Movement member Leyla Şaylemez on 9 January 2013. The second massacre on 23 December 2022 claimed the lives of KCK Executive Council Member Emine Kara (Evîn Goyî), Mîr Perwer (Mehmet Şirin Aydın) from the Cultural Movement and Kurdish patriot Abdurrahman Kızıl.

“Our pain is alive, we do not forget them and we salute their memory. Since 2013, 6 Kurdish activists have been massacred, victims of a terrorist act in the centre of Paris. We want justice to be done. The case regarding the massacre in 2013 has been blocked by state secrecy. We strongly demand that this be lifted. Regarding the attack in 2022, so far there has been no definition of a ‘terrorist attack’, although the CDK-F was deliberately targeted. We want the anti-terrorism prosecutor’s office to take action,” said the French politician.

The PCF leader continued: “The struggle for rights and justice demands the exposure of all aspects of these attacks, those who ordered them and their international extensions. Our country cannot remain silent and must end impunity. Therefore, I call for action on 23 December and 6 January to voice these demands loudly.”

A central march is planned on the first anniversary of the 23 December 2022 massacre. The march will take place from Gare du Nord to Ahmet Kaya Kurdish Cultural Centre at 11.00 am on 23 December.

Fabien Roussel stated that these actions will also give voice to the demands of the prisoners “in Erdoğan’s dungeons” and concluded his call as follows:

“We call for the lifting of the isolation of Abdullah Öcalan and his fellow prisoners and for their freedom. Their freedom will be an important step for the political solution of the Kurdish question. We condemn the policy of the European Union, we condemn the hypocrisy, and we demand strong action from the Council of Europe for democratic rights and the implementation of human rights. The Erdogan dictatorship is carrying out a policy of persecution and arrest against the Turkish people, the Kurdish people and the peoples of Turkey. In the person of HEDEP, we reaffirm our solidarity with the progressive democratic Kurdish and Turkish forces waging a courageous struggle against the Erdoğan regime. The Kurdish movement must stop being criminalised. Freedom and justice for the Kurdish people.”