WHY were Sakine Cansiz and friends killed 9 January 2013

[Anthea]

French court closes case in murders of 3 PKK women

Court proceedings in the murders of three Kurdish women in Paris in 2013 have been closed a month after the main suspect passed away.

Omer Guney died in a Paris hospital on December 17 from complications arising from a brain tumour. He was the only suspect facing trial for the deaths of Sakine Cansiz, a founder of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), Fidan Dogan, and Leyla Soylemez.

The trial of Guney, a Turkish national, was due to commence on Monday but all court proceedings have been dropped, Reuters reported citing judicial sources.

The bodies of the three women were found by French police in a Kurdish information centre in Paris in January 2013. They were killed with gunshots to the head.

French officials investigated Guney for links with Turkish intelligence. Guney maintained his innocence of the crime and Turkish officials denied they were involved.

http://www.rudaw.net/english/middleeast ... /230120171

We have to protest and get them to reopen the case

[Anthea]

Paris killings: Families file charges for the investigation to be reopened

Families of the three revolutionary women murdered in Paris have filed charges for the investigation that was closed after the suspect died under suspicious circumstances to be reopened.

With the filed charges, the families are expecting to ensure the identification and trial the people who ordered the executions. These charges are filed against the co-conspirators of the executions.

On January 9, 2013, PKK founding member Sakine Cansız, KNK Paris representative Fidan Doğan and Kurdish youth movement member Leyla Şaylemez were executed with three bullets to their heads in Paris.

Suspect Ömer Güney had died in prison a few weeks before the trial started, on December 17, 2016.

The trial was planned to start on January 23 in Paris Criminal Court, but the case was closed after Güney suddenly died under suspicious circumstances.

Although Ömer Güney was the only suspect in remand, the investigation had established that the Turkish intelligence service MİT did play a part in the executions.

The casefile had not identified the person who gave the order but all leads pointed to Ankara.

Though there is still a risk that the legal grounds for the case may be removed, lawyer Antoine Comte pointed out another thing.

Antoine Comte spoke to the AFP and stated that the verdict to stop the case only applied to the suspect.

Comte pointed out that the indictment on Ömer Güney didn’t maka a statement on the accomplices or people who gave the order regarding lack of jurisdiction.

The lawyer said the following:

“Ömer Güney was merely a hitman for the very real attempt by the Turkish intelligence service to execute Kurdish militants in Europe. Political murders being committed and overlooked can not be accepted in France.”

[Anthea]

Investigation into the murder of Sakine, Fidan, Leyla reopens

Investigation into the murder in Paris of Sakine Cansız, Fidan Doğan and Leyla Şaylemez has reopened upon the appeal of lawyers against the closure of the case in January due to the suspicious death of the only suspect.



Investigation into the murder in Paris of Sakine Cansız, Fidan Doğan and Leyla Şaylemez has reopened upon the appeal of lawyers.

On January 9, 2013, PKK (Kurdistan Workers' Party) founding member Sakine Cansız (Sara), KNK (Kurdistan National Congress) Paris representative Fidan Doğan (Rojbin) and Kurdish Youth Movement member Leyla Şaylemez (Ronahi) were executed with three bullets to their heads in the hear of French capital Paris.

The only arrested suspect in the case, hitman Ömer Güney, died on December 17, 2016 under suspicious conditions. According to the suspect’s lawyers, Güney died of a lung infection. It was also said that the suspect had a brain condition, but there were no statements up to date that his health was getting worse. There is no official statement on the cause of death yet. But this death happened just weeks before the trial was scheduled to start. The trial was supposed to start on January 23.

In late January, lawyers for families of the three Kurdish women were notified that the case against Ömer Güney, due to be held at Paris Heavy Penal Court, was closed due to the death of the sole suspect.

In the investigation file of the case, it was stated that murder suspect Ömer Güney might have perpetrated the triple murder on instructions from an outside structure that extended to Turkish intelligence MİT, and that the case did not progress as Turkey did not provide any information as to whether Güney committed the murders with a direct order from MİT or in relation with a group within MİT.

On the other hand, lawyers for Cansız, Doğan and Şaylemez families stated after Güney's death that the case mustn't be limited with the sole suspect who died short before the scheduled hearing. Calling attention to the explicit involvement of the Turkish intelligence in the killings, lawyers defended that it would be misleading to handle the case over Ömer Güney alone.

In a statement after Güney's death, Comte said: “Yes, Ömer Güney is dead. But this needs to be understood: There are accomplices and those who ordered the murder on a political level in the casefile. There are serious elements in the casefile that show the Turkish state as the party to give the order. Wherever these people are, they should answer to French justice. We have the names of those involved in the incident. The French prosecution clearly accused the Turkish intelligence services. It was the first time that a state was shown as a murder suspect in a political murder.”

In February 2017, families of three Kurdish women filed charges for the case to be reopened. The families expected to ensure the identification and trial of the people who ordered the executions, i.e. the co-conspirators of the killings.

According to an AFP report, a new investigation has been opened into the murder of three Kurdish women after the closure of the case in January, against which families had appealed.

The report states that the investigation has been launched by an anti-terror prosecutor and will be carried out by Anti-Terrorism Sub-Directorate (SDAT).

The AFP report also quotes families' lawyer Antoine Comte as saying that the reopening of the investigation is a great consolation for the families.

[Anthea]

Women in Paris meet at Fidan Doğan Women's Festival

The 1st Fidan Doğan Women's Festival, held in France's capital city, Paris, was a big enthusiasm.

The festival started with a minute of silence for all the revolutionary martyrs in the Val De Marne region of Paris, where the intense participation of Kurdish women and friends took place.

Organizations such as Zin Women's Associations, Northern France Women's Assemblies, Femmes Solidaires, World Women's Walk, Solidarity with Kobanê Women Collective and France Kurdistan Solidarity Association supported the festival which will be held in front of the Kurdish women's movement in France. Kurdish women's movement representative Zozan Serhat, CDKF representative Cemile Renkiçay and Fidan Doğan's brother Uzay Doğan made the opening speech of the festival.

The message of the Kurdish women's movement read at the festival stated that "Women's Liberation Movement
We greet you with our firm belief in freedom and freedom from the mountains of Kurdistan, where the greatest challenge to the system has been developed, and we honor the martyrs of freedom and revolution with respect, love and gratitude.

We reiterate our loyalty and absolute success to all our martyrs, including Sara, Rojbin and Ronahi's comrades who were murdered in Paris with a lowly conspirator, Zilan, our god of liberation and manifestos, and Nalin Mus and Helin Dersim, who were killed in the humiliating attack of the last colonial Turkish state.

Again in İmralı Island, in the isolation applied to the Leader Apo, who is held hostage under an inhumane torture system, we condemn the European states who have been silent and endorsed, and emphasize that we will destroy the system of İmralı with our resistance.

Laurence Cohen, 94th District Senator, Nathalie Dinner, 94th Sardinie Dinner, France Kurdistan President Sylvie Jan, Marche Mondiale, Nelly Martin and Fammes Solidaires, celebrated the festival and gave solidarity messages.

Senator Laurence Cohen said: "It is not possible to see the struggle of the Kurdish woman as a senator and a woman and not to stand beside this struggle Kurdish women struggle against Daish" On the barbarians, of course, it is not possible to forget the struggle of Sakine, Rojbin and Leyla.

We are with women fighting in Kurdistan and Turkey. We want the censorship in the face, the punishment of freedom of expression, the dismissal of people in public, and especially Kurdish politicians, the condemnation of HDP Co-Presidents Figen Yüksekdağ and Selahatin Demirtaş as prisoners and we want to be released as soon as possible. I was delighted to be with you at the Rojbin women's festival, and these kind of festivals need to be widespread not only in our region but also in all of France ".

In the festival, HDK-France women's parliamentary representative, HDK-France and Paris Pir Sultan Abdal representatives were given the message of enlarging the struggle in the face of all the women who were arrested in Figen Yüksekdağ.

The exhibition opened with the photographs of the three Kurdish women revolutionaries Sakine Cansız, Fidan Doğan and Layla Şaylemez who were murdered in Paris during the festival.

In the festival, Serenat Ergican, Rojda, Tigre Uzar, Lilav, Shararoj, Zazlooz, Govend, Kewê Yıldız Gültekin theater show and Tamil female dance group took the stage.

[Anthea]

Sakine Cansiz

Almost 5 years ago Sakine Cansiz, alone with 2 friends, was shot dead in Paris aged 54

Sakine Cansiz was a founding member of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), the revolutionary Marxist movement which took up arms against the Turkish state in the 1980s, demanding an Independent Kurdistan

Sakine Cansiz dedicated her life to Kurdish Independence and I do NOT believe she would have settled for anything less than Independence

For 5 years there has been one cover-up after another and lie upon lie

[Anthea]

FIVE YEARS

Five Years Since Sakine Cansız, Fidan Doğan And Leyla Şaylemez Were Executed

Thousands demand trial for Erdogan for his role in Paris massacre

In Paris, tens of thousands demanded a trial for Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan for his role in the killing of three Kurdish women in Paris in 2012.

More than 25 thousand gathered in Paris today, to commemorate three Kurdish revolutionary women, Sakine Cansız, Fidan Dogan and Leyla Saylemez, who were killed by a Turkish MIT agent on January 9, 2012.

At today's demonstration in Paris, protestors called upon the French state to put those who are behind the Paris massacre on trial.

Organized by the Kurdish Women's Movement Europe (TJK-E) and the Democratic Kurdish Council France (CDK-F), the demonstration was attended by thousands of women and numerous Kurdish and French politicians, including Jean Luc Melenchon, leader of the French Left Party, and Pierre Laurent, chairman of the French Communist Party.

"We never looked for the murderer, but for those behind him. The man who gave the order for this attack was in Paris yesterday" Metin Cansiz, brother of Sakine Cansiz, said referring to Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s visit to Paris.

Cumali Saylemez, the father of Leyla Şaylemez, also said that they will continue to fight for justice and called on the French state to fulfil its responsibilities.

Commenting on yesterday's meeting of French President Emmanuel Macron with Erdogan, Pierre Laurent of the Communist Party said: "We will not allow the Kurds once again to be sacrificed to economic and political interests."

In his speech, Jen-Christophe Sellin, a member of the Left Party, commented on the recent statements of MIT agents captured by the PKK: "According to the statements, the order of these murders was given by Erdogan. In view of this statement, Erdogan should be tried in France. "

The protestors chanted slogans condemning Erdogan and Turkish government for its role in Paris killings.

Five years ago, on January 9, 2012, three Kurdish woman revolutionaries were killed by an MIT agent in Paris. The French judiciary has delayed the trial of the suspect Omer Guney until he died in December 2016 in custody of a brain tumour.

Last April, at the request of the survivor's lawyers, a new preliminary investigation was initiated but no developments were reported.

[Anthea]

Slain PKK member was a rebel with a cause

Please click on image to enlarge:


Sakine Cansiz, one of the founders of the outlawed Kurdistan Worker’s Party (PKK), led a tough life that included stints on the frontlines and in notorious Turkish jails, making her a legend in PKK ranks.

At a conference on the Kurdish language in the French capital in the early 2000s, Kendal Nezan, president of the Kurdish Institute in Paris, was approached by a gaunt, soft-spoken woman who spoke to him in his native Kurdish.

“She said she was Sakine Cansiz and she asked me if I knew who she was,” recounted Nezan in a phone interview with FRANCE 24. “Of course I knew her. Sakine Cansiz was a prominent resistance personality. She was arrested, she was very heavily tortured, she was very courageous, she was a symbol of resistance.”

One of the founders of the Kurdistan Worker’s Party (PKK), Cansiz -- along with two other female activists -- was found dead with gunshot wounds inside a Kurdish institute in the heart of Paris on Thursday.

Nezan has little doubt that Cansiz, a close associate of the iconic PKK chief Abdullah Ocalan, who is currently serving a life sentence in a Turkish jail, was “the real target” of the assassinations.

While French police sources have described the murders as an “execution style” killing, some members of the Kurdish institute say the bodies of the three women were found inside a locked room and that the gunman -- or gunmen -- had used a silencer.

Shortly after the news of her killing broke, social media sites such as Twitter were flooded with tributes and expressions of shock by the Kurdish diaspora across the world.

The PKK is born – and jailed

Born in the mountainous Tunceli province in eastern Turkey, Cansiz’ family belongs to the minority Alevis -- a historically persecuted sect that is considered an offshoot of Shia Islam.

Not much is known about Cansiz’ early years until 1978, when she was present at the founding meeting of the PKK in a village in the Diyarbakir province of south-eastern Turkey.

The meeting, called the First Constitutional Congress, was a milestone moment in the Kurdish resistance movement and the 20-odd members present went on to form PKK’s central committee.

In 1979, she was arrested and proceeded to spend the 1980s in Diyarbakir Prison, a notorious jail where more than 30 prisoners died of torture between 1981 and 1989, and hundreds more were injured for life.

“This Turkish prison is no holiday camp,” said Nezan. “It was very tough. She was repeatedly tortured but she was admired -- even by the Turkish prisoners -- as someone who was very courageous and she was respected for that.”

In a 1998 interview with the Kurdistan Report, Cansiz referred to that period as “a significant phase” that set the “stamp on the liberation struggle”.

Recalling that era, Cansiz noted that, “In the prisons, the enemy had a plan, which was to destroy the party by condemning and destroying the PKK prisoners. Against this plan the prison resistance came into being in a manner which was in the true spirit of the PKK.”

A fighting life under code name ‘Sara’

After her release in 1991, Cansiz is believed to have trained in the PKK camps in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley, which was then under Syrian control. After her stint in the Bekaa, Cansiz also fought in northern Iraq. At some point in her fighting years, she acquired the code name “Sara,” according to the Turkish English paper, the Hurriyet Daily.

In the mid-1990s, Cansiz was dispatched to Europe by Murat Karayilan, then the leader of the PKK's armed wing, according to the British daily, the Guardian. She spent some time in Germany before finally moving to France, where she was granted asylum.

While Cansiz was not a household name in France, there are indications that French authorities and security services were well aware of her stature in Kurdish resistance circles.

In an interview with FRANCE 24 shortly after the news of the murder broke, Armel Taverdin, a lawyer for one of the three women, maintained that the French police had plenty of evidence to work on in the case since, he said, at least two of the three victims had been under surveillance by the French police.

Taverdin, however, declined to disclose which of the victims were being monitored by law enforcement.

Old ties with the French left

Responding to the killings on Thursday, French President François Hollande described the crime as terrible, and said he had met one of the victims, as had many French politicians, because "she was regularly seeking to meet with us."

Nezan speculates that Cansiz was the victim the French president was referring to.

The presence in France of one of the founders of the PKK -- an outlawed militant group considered a terrorist organization by the EU, the US and Turkey among other countries -- has raised eyebrows in some international circles.

But Dorothée Schmid, an expert on Turkey at the French Institute of International Relations in Paris, noted that during the 1980s, the French left was very active in supporting the Kurdish cause.

“When François Mitterrand was president, his wife [Danielle Mitterrand] very actively supported the cause, so the Kurdish question gained wide awareness among the French public,” said Schmid. “François Hollande’s reaction has to be understood in that context. It doesn’t mean he endorses the PKK or its stance on violence.”

But even in Europe, Cansiz was never free from scrutiny and occasional detentions.

According to a May 4, 2007 US diplomatic cable released by WikiLeaks, Cansiz was arrested in the German city of Hamburg on March 19 on a Turkish arrest warrant distributed via Interpol.

She was released on April 25 and had “already returned to Paris,” the cable noted, after the Hamburg High Court ruled that “the request did not meet the minimum European requirements for extradition”.

“She was arrested several times, it happens to many prominent PKK and former PKK members, as well as Kurdish parliament members,” said Nezan. “That’s their life.”

‘She never married, she never had children’

A leftist Marxist group, the PKK’s ideology combines Kurdish nationalism with communist goals, such as equality and communal ownership of property. In theory, resistance to patriarchy forms one of the important tenets of PKK ideology and the group’s ranks have long included female fighters.

An eloquent women’s rights proponent, Cansiz insisted that women’s participation in the PKK’s armed struggle was not a “token gesture” nor were they “a showpiece”.

While she acknowledged “shortcomings” in female PKK members’ fight to achieve equality, Cansiz insisted that the group was “trying to build an egalitarian society for both men and women”.

When asked if Kurdish women would be “sent back home” after the revolution in a conservative society, Cansiz was adamant that “no man will ever dare to advance the old reactionary demands and attitudes”.

Revolution and resistance permeated every facet of her life, according to Cansiz’s associates, which meant she did not have too much of a private life.

“She never married, she never had children,” said Nezan. “In these revolutionary movements, people don’t get married, they say they are waiting for the victory of the struggle. The resistance becomes their life.”

http://www.france24.com/en/20130111-kur ... ile-legend

[Anthea]

Monument erected in memory of Sakine, Fidan and Leyla in Paris

Please click image to enlarge:


A monument has been placed at the place where Sakine Cansız, one of the founders of the PKK, KNK Paris Representative Fidan Doğan and Youth Movement member Leyla Şaylemez, were massacred. The monument was unveiled yesterday with a ceremony.

On the 5th anniversary of the massacre of PKK co-founder Sakine Cansız, KNK Paris representative Fidan Doğan and Kurdish Youth Movement member Leyla Şaylemez, a monument engraved with the names of the Kurdish women were placed on 147 La Fayette Street, where the Kurdish Information Centre is located.

French politicians, representatives of Kurdish institutions and families were present at the unveiling of the monument and the anniversary commemoration event organized by the Municipality of Paris, the 10th Municipality of Paris and the Democratic Kurdish Council of France. Alongside information about Cansız, Doğan and Şaylemez, the words “Three Kurdish women militants were massacred here” were engraved on the monument.

SILENT MARCH IN 5TH YEAR

The event, organized by the Kurdish women's movement at 13:30 today, began with a mass silent march in front of the Democratic Kurdish Community Center in Paris. In front of the march cortege were photos of Cansız, Doğan and Şaylemez with wreaths on behalf of PKK, Kurdish People's Leader Abdullah Öcalan, KNK, CDK-F, TJK-E, Cîwanên Azad and FEDA. Following the end of the march in front of the Kurdish Information Bureau, the memorial and monument unveiling ceremony began.

Speeches were made by Helene Bidard, Vice President of the Paris Metropolitan Municipality, Remy Ferre, 10th Mayor of Paris, Alexander Cordebard, 10th Paris Mayor, Andre Metayer on behalf of the National Coordination of Solidarity with Kurdistan, Nursel Kılıç on behalf of the Kurdish Women's Movement, and Egît Polat on behalf of the CDK-F in the ceremony.

‘THIS MONUMENT SHOWS WE ARE NEXT TO THE KURDS’

10th Paris Mayor Alexandra Cordebard made the opening speech of the ceremony. Cordebard briefly described the lives of the three Kurdish women and remarked: “Three Kurdish militant women struggled for universal values of mankind. Their lives passed on like that. Our aim with this monument is to not forget them and make them unforgettable in Paris. Such a monument is here for this.”

Remy Ferre, noting her sadness on the murder of three 3 Kurdish women in her region during her mayor's term in 2013, said: “We started this kind of work after the massacre to not forget these women. We made this memorial work in conjunction with the metropolitan municipality. This should not be treated as just a monument. It is a sign that we are next to the struggle of the Kurds.” Ferre also called out to the French judiciary for justice to be served.

‘CRIMINALS SHOULD BE BROUGHT TO JUSTICE’

Speaking on behalf of the France National Coordination of Solidarity with Kurdistan, Andre Metayer said that despite all the evidence and documents related to the case, it was not brought to light. He said, “However, in spite of all, justice has not been done. The French judiciary should bring criminals to jurisdiction and ensure justice.”

‘I HOPE THIS SENSITIVITY IS SHOWN IN THE JUDICIARY’

Sakine Cansız's brother Metin Cansız also said that the municipality of Paris saw the opening of the monument positively.

"I hope that this sensitivity of your municipality is reflected in your judiciary. We Kurds will not be as silent as others who have been killed and murdered before," said Cansız, who stated that the search for justice will continue until the end.

Leyla Şaylemez's father, Cumali Şaylamaz, called on the judiciary to duty for justice to be served.

'THE FORCE BEHIND THE MASSACRE IS THE TURKISH STATE'

On behalf of the Kurdish Women's Movement, Nursel Kılıç also began by commemorating Cansız, Doğan and Şaylemez. Kılıç, who thanked the French institutions and figures who are in solidarity with the Kurdish justice campaign, said: “Three Kurdish women represent three generations. Sakine Cansız was a symbol of the freedom struggle. Like Rosa Luxemburg and Clara Zetkin, she has been written on the revolutionary history of the world.

The line she represents is finding life in Rojava today. Again, Fidan Doğan is a Kurdish diplomat who grew up in France. Leyla Şaylemez represented her younger generation,” she said. Referring to the statements of MİT executives held by the KCK, Kılıç continued, “The statements of MİT executives also expresses that the force behind the massacre is the Turkish state. France must consider these statements and provide justice as soon as possible. The enlightenment of this case may set an example for other murders.”

’MİT WOULDN'T BE SWARMING AROUND IF THE MASSACRE WAS BROUGHT TO LIGHT’

Speaking on behalf of the Democratic Kurdish Council of France, Egît Polat, referring to Erdogan-European relations, stressed that the repeat of the massacre in 2013 is imminent, and said: “At this moment the agents of the Turkish state are swarming around in European countries. Although all European intelligence knows this, no action has been taken against them. Recently, immediately after the meeting between Erdogan and Emmanuel Macron, Kurdish footballer Deniz Naki was attacked in Germany. This shows how great the danger is. If the massacre of 2013 is brought to light and if justice finds its place, it will also overtake all other initiatives.”

’THE MASSACRE POINTS TO ANKARA’

Helene Bidard, Vice President of the Paris Metropolitan Municipality, said that they had lived the pain of such a murder in Paris and said, "We living the pain of these three women who struggled in the name of humanity and universal values. We have made such a monument as a municipality to keep people's memories alive. We are now part of the justice struggle from the first day of the incident as an institution. The judiciary has to enlighten this case. This responsibility is on the current government. Because the murder of three Kurdish women points to Ankara.”

Following the speeches, an official ceremony was held to unveil the monument. The ceremony ended with a stand in silence in memory of Cansız, Doğan and Şaylemez.[quote][/quote]

[Anthea]

MIT officers’ confessions about Paris Massacre

KCK released the confessions of two top MIT officials who were captured by HPG in Southern Kurdistan as they were preparing assassinations against KCK leaders.

On the anniversary of Paris Massacre, KCK released the confessions of Erhan Pekcetin and Aydın Gunel, about the killings.

Both said that the massacre was planned by Turkish intelligence agency and was approved by the highest authority in Turkey.

One of the captured MIT official Erhan Pekcetin said: “There are audio recordings that were leaked to the internet. When I first head them I understood that the assassination was planned and executed by Ugur Kaan Ayik, our head of Ethnic Separatist Activities department; Oguz Yuret, a director of branch office; agent Ayhan Oran and other three personnel of us. Because I recognized them from the audio recordings”.

“They met with an informer named Omer Guney in a hotel in Ankara. The audio recordings are taken from the hotel”.

“This kind of assassinations are critical. It requires a decision from a high ranking officials and only a few cadres know about it”.

“The note of action should go to the desk of the director of the agency. I don’t think that he will decide himself, he will ask to the president. Because these actions can create international problems. It was a time when the peace negotiations were taking place. The note of action was probably prepared by the director of branch office, not by Ayhan Oran. Then next it went to Ugur Kaan Ayık’s desk. His superior’s superior is Sabahattin Asal, who was deputy director of the agency, it possible went to him. Sabahattin Asal was attending the peace negotiations along with Muhammed Dervisoglu. Then it possible went to the desk of Haluk Ozcan the deputy director of General Affairs Department. And after that it ends on the desk of the director. This is how an action note is transferred within the agency. This action was not an action that could be done by a deputy director. It should go up to the director and get approval”.

Aydin Gunel recognized the signatures on the leaked document about Paris massacre: “O. Yuret is the signature of Oguz Yuret. Oguz Yuret is the head of the regional department of MIT in Van. He was the director of the operational department at that time.

U.K. Ayik is Ugur Kaan Ayik. He is the head of Special Operations department right now. He was the head of Ethnic Separatist Activities department at that time.

S. Asal is Sabahattin Asal. He is the deputy director of Strategic Intelligence department. He was a deputy in Ethnic Separatist Activities department in 2012. These are the signatures on the action note”.

The officials also provided information about how the assassination was organized and how Omer Guney’s, the gunman’s travels were arranged: “I heard that French intelligence service sent us a memo to us when Omer Guney’s airline ticket to Paris was leaked at the assassination stage. I know that they (the French) demanded an explanation and there was no answer. The Security Directorate of France also sent a letter to Turkish counterparts. Turkish Security Directorate started an investigation and found the travel agency where the ticket was bought from its PNN number. This agency is in public housing in Yenimahalle neighborhood of Ankara. I have never seen it. We only phone them and they provide us the ticket. They give us PNN number. That ticket was also bought from there, from our agency. It’s not our organization’s but it’s office is in MIT’s public housing. The return ticket of Omer Guney was bought from there”.

The officials spoke about the promotion of those who were behind the assassination: “Ugur Kaan Ayik was appointed to Doha as a representative then he was promoted to the head of special operations department. Oguz Yuret is the head of the regional office in Van. Ayhan Oran was fired from the agency.”

[Anthea]

6 years ago Sakine Cansız and 2 of her friends
Leyla Şaylemez and Fidan Doğan, were executed

WHY ???

We still do not know the real reason these three ladies were executed

I personally suspect Sakine Cansız was the target and, sadly, her colleagues were collateral damage

After 6 years, the who and why remains unknown

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Paris Massacre perpetrators deliberately obscured

It is widely believed that the vile murder of Sara, Rojbin and Ronahi in the middle of Paris on January 9 was a planned and organized attack by the Tayyip Erdogan administration and the Turkish National Intelligence Agency MIT under Hakan Fidan’s rule

“We remember with respect and gratitude comrades Sakine Cansiz (Sara), one of the founders of the PKK and a leading militant in the women’s freedom struggle, Fidan Dogan (Rojbin) and Leyla Saylemez (Ronahi), esteemed militant women of our party, on the 6th anniversary of their murder in Paris. We state that in the 7th year of this vile massacre that we will keep the memory of our esteemed martyrs alive in the victory lunge Break the isolation, tear down fascism and free Kurdistan’ we developed as a party and a people.

As it is known, the vile murder of Sara, Rojbin and Ronahi in the middle of Paris on January 9 was a planned and organized attack by the Tayyip Erdogan administration and the Turkish National Intelligence Agency MIT under Hakan Fidan’s rule. It was impossible for such an attack to happen without support from France and other powers in Europe. Thus, the French administration of the time and certain European states had direct responsibility.

The suspected murderer Omer Guney was arrested and questioned. As a result of this questioning that spread over such a long time of 4 years, it was brought to light that the massacre was planned and organized and that it had been organized by the MIT on orders from the AKP government of the time. This has been documented in both the police inquiry and the prepared indictment.

But one month before the case was to start, Omer Guney was killed in prison and the launch of the case and the process for the massacre was prevented to this day. Omer Guney was thus silenced and other perpetrators of the massacre were deliberately obscured and left without consequence. Thus, the true criminals like Tayyip Erdogan, Mehmet Ali Sahin, Huseyin Celik and Hakan Fidan were protected. This is not the case, but let’s say the French state wasn’t powerful enough to prevent the massacre - is the current French administration also too weak to put the massacre on trial and punish the perpetrators? Clearly simple calculations of interest are preventing this from happening, and this dark stain on humanity persists. We want a stop to this, and invite the French administration to announce the rest of the perpetrators of the massacre and to put them on trial as per their responsibility.

As it is known, the January 9 Paris Massacre came at a time when a new dialogue process was starting in Imrali and meetings were held with Abdullah Ocalan. In this way, it was the start and development of the dialogue process that aimed to resolve the Kurdish issue that was targeted. The massacre was perpetrated by fascist-genocidal powers that feed off of the Kurdish issue. It was an attack against the solution to the Kurdish issue. It was an attack against freedom and democracy. It was an anti-Kurdish and misogynist attack. All these characteristics manifested in an animosity against the PKK.

Abdullah Ocalan said the bullets fired at comrades Sara, Rojbin and Ronahi were a continuation of the October 9 and February 15 plots and were perpetrated by the conspiracist powers. He said the conspiracy was renewed and continued through this massacre. It is very clear that the attack meant to sabotage the new dialogue process, to clear the path for Al Qaeda and ISIS attacks in the Middle East and to nip the resistance against them in the bud. If the conspiracist attack that started with the Paris massacre wasn’t stopped and the Kurdistan Freedom Movement didn’t continue to develop, the later resistance against ISIS attacks wouldn’t have happened and fascist gangs would have reigned in the Middle East.

An attentive eye would see that the attempts to renew the international conspiracy that started with the Paris Massacre continues today with similar attacks. The powers that committed the Paris Massacre continue to kill Kurds and women in all four parts of Kurdistan and abroad today. The fascist-genocidal attacks and massacres continue in Afrin, Botan, Dersim, Shengal, Maxmur, Bradost and throughout Kurdistan. Those who murdered Sara, Rojbin and Ronahi yesterday kill Avesta, Delal and Zeki today. The PKK administration is targeted and the movement for freedom and democracy is attempted to be disbanded.

But the party, the people, Kurdish women and Kurdish youth have worthily upheld Sara, Rojbin and Ronahi and managed to break the conspiracist attacks, void the plans for annihilation and disbanding and stop the conspiracists in their tracks with the struggle they developed in the six years since. The ISIS gangs have been almost completely defeated in West Kurdistan, collaborationist politics in South Kurdistan have been rendered moot, and the existence of and righteous struggle for freedom by the Kurds have been promoted throughout the world, thus avenging the Paris massacre.

This struggle for vengeance continues now in the form of the victory lunge ‘Break the isolation and tear down fascism’ based on the new July 14 Resistance led by Leyla Guven. This victory lunge that aims to achieve free living and working conditions for Abdullah Ocalan is spreading in every area and developing constantly, becoming the reality for a correct life in 2019 as well as determining the line of action. Our revolutionary struggle that developed on the basis of women’s freedom from Sara to Leyla is marching to victory with the ‘Break the isolation, tear down fascism’ lunge.

2019 will be the year of victory for this lunge, and our Paris martyrs will live on in this victory!

On this basis, we remember with respect once more comrades Sara, Rojbin and Ronahi on the 6th year of their martyrdom and call on women, the youth and all of our people to develop the ‘Break the isolation, tear down fascism’ lunge with strong actions wherever they live!”

[Anthea]

Sakine, Fidan, Leyla worked for freedom and peace in Kurdistan

On January 9, 2013, PKK founding member Sakine Cansiz, KNK Paris representative Fidan Doğan and Kurdish Youth Movement member Leyla Şaylemez were brutally murdered in Paris. They were hit in a place they considered safe, the office Fidan was going to everyday to do her job: a meticulous, diplomatic work to get French politicians aware and informed on the crime and repression against Kurds.

Three women, three generations of Kurdish women committed at different levels and in different fields tirelessly working both to denounce the persecution of Kurds and for a path toward a just and lasting peace through dialogue.

Both issues -exposing the violence against a people of 40 millions and working for peace- were the target of those who ordered the murder.

Kurds are preventing this vicious murder to end up forgotten or being put aside. They cannot be left alone because this is a murder which concerns the very democratic and justice values professed by Europe. This is a murder which concerns Europe not just because it was committed in a European city but also because it proved that there are those who - in Europe - feel safe to act knowing they would benefit or some kind of impunity. This is something Europe should reflect upon very seriously and act very quickly.

SAKİNE CANSIZ

Sakine Cansız, a co-founder of the PKK (Kurdistan Workers’ Party was born in the province of Dersim in 1957. Having been active in the student youth movement in Elazığ for long years, Cansız joined the Kurdish revolutionary movement in 1976.

Cansız, a leading figure in the struggle against fascist circles in Elazığ, was mainly active in the neighborhoods of Fevzi Çakmak and Yıldızbağları. By joining political works in and around Dersim in 1978, Cansız became fully involved in the revolutionary movement after that time.

After attending the PKK Congress on 27 November 1978, Cansız was arrested in Elazığ and sent to prison together with a group of friends. She was subjected to heavy torture in the period of the 12 September military coup in 1980. She was released in 1991.

Soon after her release, she continued to take an active part in revolutionary activities in West and South Kurdistan.

After many years of struggle on Kurdistan mountains, Cansız went to Europe where she started to lead the Kurdish women’s organization. She was one of the inspiring and prominent women who made great contributions to the association and organization of Kurds in diaspora.

FİDAN DOĞAN

Doğan, one of the two other Kurdish women killed in Paris, was born in the district of Elbistan (Maraş) on 17 January 1982. As a daughter of an immigrant family in Europe, she grew up in France.

Doğan, who took a strong interest in Kurdistan Freedom Struggle since her childhood, started to take an active part in revolutionary works in Europe as of 1999. Besides her works which mainly focused on youth and women, Doğan also took part in diplomacy activities in Europe as of 2002. She was both a member of the Kurdistan National Congress and Paris representative of the establishment.

LEYLA ŞAYLEMEZ

Leyla Şaylemez, daughter of a Yazidi family from Diyarbakır's Lice district, was born in the southern province of Mersin. She spent her childhood here until her family moved to Germany in 90's.

She had been studying at the Department of Architecture for one year when she joined the Kurdistan Freedom Struggle. After 2006, she started to take an active part in many European cities, particularly in Berlin, Cologne, Hannnover, Frankfurt and Swiss city of Basel.

After spending one and a half year in Kurdistan in 2010, she returned to Paris where she had been conducting works since then.

Sakine, born in Dersim, would have known the horror of the Dersim massacre from those who managed to survive the darkest days of Turkish slaughter

[Anthea]

“My mother taught me not only to rebel but to fight”

Throughout her life Sakine would develop a deep knowledge and understanding of both Kurdistan (and Turkey) and Europe and their peoples, cultures, identities

To mark the anniversary of the murder, on 9 January 2013, of Sakine Cansiz, Fidan Dogan and Leyla Saylemez, here is an extract from the autobiography of Sakine Cansiz, ‘My Whole Life was a Struggle’, published by Pluto Press and translated by Janet Biehl.

In this chapter, Sakine tells of her first time in Europe, Germany, in 1973. She travelled there with her father. As it happened, throughout her life Sakine would develop a deep knowledge and understanding of both Kurdistan (and Turkey) and Europe and their peoples, cultures, identities.

My mother taught me not only to rebel but to fight

That year [1973] my father decided to take my big brother and me to Germany. I didn’t want to leave school. I’d finish secondary school and wanted to continue my studies. I was interested in becoming a nurse and wanted to go to Health School. I didn’t know much about boarding schools, but in our extended family there were girls who attended schools with attached dormitories. The daughter of an uncle on my mother’s side attended the Girls Vocational School in Elazığ, and the daughter of a paternal uncle went to school in Akçadağ. I thought that would be better. And at the time I wanted to be far away, because I thought it would make my mother love me more.

My youngest sisters were the twins. They had the same names as my friends in grade school: Feride and Nesibe. Their upbringing was difficult. My mother always said, “Now that I can handle one, Allah has given me two!” She complained about it to Allah. But I secretly rejoiced that the twins were there. During my mother’s pregnancy, when she would scold me and express irritation that I was a girl, I said: “Well, I hope two more [girls] are coming!” I had no idea that twins were on the way—I just meant, I wanted to have many sisters. When the twins were born, I was delighted... It was as if God had heard my prayer. But of course it wasn’t easy to raise the two of them, and it was sometimes onerous for me.

Normally I took care of Nesibe, while my mother handled Feride. Together we changed their diapers and fed them their mush. The neighbors took to calling Nesibe “Sakine’s daughter.” Feride was blond, while Nesibe was darker. They were fraternal twins. Just after their birth, my mother had an appendectomy, which didn’t make things easier for me. I had to manage the whole household, take care of the twins, and be responsible for the rest of the family. Even at a young age, I had to learn to do every possible task.

At the time we were seven siblings. I was the oldest daughter. Besides my big brother, the others were all younger than me and had to be looked after. I did the laundry, prepared the food, baked the bread, did the shopping, and performed all the other chores, but somehow my mother was never satisfied. The neighbour women would hold me up as a model for their own daughters, with all my household industriousness despite my youth, but in the eyes of my own mother, I could never do right. She was a very prickly woman.

But then, with my father being away, leaving her alone with so many children, it wasn’t easy for her. The burden, in fact, overwhelmed her. She presided over the family with the words and the rules that she knew and understood. She is the person in my life who most influenced me, so I’ll explain much more about her. Even as she taught me rebellion, she also taught me to struggle. I owe her a great deal.

But my father finally persuaded my brother and me to go with him to Berlin. It was the first time I’d ever left Dersim, my family, and my mother, Zeynep. The farther we traveled from home, the more homesick I became. I was filled with sorrow and cried sometimes.

The first city I saw after Dersim was Elazığ. But the bus didn’t stop there—it continued on to Istanbul. Along the way I could see things only during the rest stops, because we travelled a lot of the journey during the night. The bus trip itself was torture. The whole trip was horrible, and I threw up. My father and my brother were used to such trips. In Kovancılar and Elazığ, I could see the label “MHP” on signs and rocks. Both places were known for being home to fascists, and the label was like a confirmation. I also saw “MHP” and “AP” in Kayseri, Yozgat, and Bolu—but I hardly ever saw “CHP.”

Finally we reached Istanbul. It was huge. The Bosporus bridge was still being built that year and wasn’t quite finished. It was enormous and very long, and it excited me. We had relatives in Istanbul, but we stayed at a hotel. Our plane tickets were bound up with my father’s ticket, so we had to be absolutely sure not to miss the flight. One of the owners of Turkish Airlines was Fahri Baba, a close friend of my father. My father had called him and arranged the booking. I was curious about him—in my imagination he was a powerful businessman. Later in Berlin I got to know him, and he was really a lovable, awe-inspiring man.

I stepped onto an airplane for the first time. It was superb—I couldn’t get enough of diving through the clouds. It was like jumping into a giant pile of cotton. I saw many new and interesting things, but nothing seemed strange. I acclimated myself by watching my father and my brother. I even understood the menus that were handed to us right away.

The plane had to land and refuel in Sofia. I was in a Communist country! In history class I’d paid attention to the subject of Bulgaria because it had a socialist regime. I was curious, but we made only a stopover. What were people and human relations like here? I tried to see a difference. But only the police looked different—Turkish police stirred up very different feelings in me.

Germany was huge. We flew over Stuttgart and Frankfurt to Berlin. My father explained to us about East Berlin. He said the city had been divided, and a wall built down the middle. I’d already heard in school about the distinctive regime in East Germany. Of course, it would be something else to see it in reality, but we only flew over it.

We landed in Berlin and took a taxi to Johanniterstrasse 10, where we passed though a big gateway. We drove past a lot of buildings, then finally reached a rather isolated two- story house. My first thought was that the house was remote and simple. I didn’t like it when a house had too many apartments. My father said this was the only apartment he could find. In Germany it was considered unhealthy for many people to live too close together. It wasn’t permitted. The three of us would live in an apartment intended for one. It had a living room, a small hallway, a kitchen, and a bathroom.

Why had my father brought me and my brother here? To a place that he himself called “the country of infidels” and that he didn’t even like because work conditions were tough and his family was far away? We both had had to leave school. My father had no intention of letting us work. I was fourteen, and my brother was seventeen.

My father and my brother had an interesting relationship My brother was the oldest siblings and in my father’s absence the head of the household. That gave him a certain autonomy that my mother didn’t really accept. At home he had a special status. He was very orderly, his clothes always clean and ironed. Sometimes he changed clothes two or three times a day. No sock or shirt of his was ever dirty—otherwise all hell broke loose. He was the last to get up in the morning, and then he was served breakfast. He never filled his water glass himself, even when the pitcher was right next to him. He usually didn’t like the food and normally ate out. It caused my mother grief, and but she also reproached him: “You go out to the restaurant and eat dirty soup, but you won’t eat the clean food at home. But then, what can one expect from progeny like you?” She thought him an ungrateful son.

My mother was a very good cook. I couldn’t understand my brother’s habits. In the summertime he went to Istanbul, Antalya, or Ankara, where my father sent him extra money, but he pestered my mother to send him more money, or he’d go into debt and ask my father again. My brother’s debts were always cleared when my father came home for his vacation. He told my brother to “fear Allah!” but he never got angry. My brother had his own principles, which he followed in his own special way, regardless of where he stayed. Even my mother had no power to change him. My father was very tolerant of him, considering him not only a son but a friend. He thought highly of him and was proud of having such a tall son, even when he was young. At first the people around us, even the German neighbors, didn’t believe we were my father’s children. We were both very tall for our age. My father was young, fit, and vigorous.

He was an open man and treated everyone like a friend. Most people in Dersim kept to their own kind, but not him. He had friends from Sivas, Kayseri, Istanbul, and Kars. People from different places came to visit him. He had German, African, and Libyan friends. Because he was warm and guileless, they loved him. At the same time he was close to his family. In Germany I got to know my father better and loved him all the more.

In his thoughts and feelings he was actually always with us. His frequent trips home, his songs and poems, his pieces of advice—everything flowed from his love for us. He made a cassette “Advice for my children” that was very touching when we listened to it. He wanted to show us what is right in life, step by step. We held on to this cassette for a very long time. I wish I had it with me now and could listen to it. Advice giving is a feature of Zoroastrianism—it’s an expression of closeness. The cassette contained criticisms and warnings. In a certain way we were my father’s world. He was different from other fathers.

Many fathers didn’t come home for years. Even though they were married at home, they married again in Germany. Alcohol, gambling, and affairs with other women were common, which threw domestic life into turmoil and destroyed whole families. In Dersim many men were known to have married German women. Many even brought the new wife back home on vacation. That created bad blood. Some married rich German women out of calculation, to be able to inherit from them

Everyone knew my father didn’t behave this way with women. He enjoyed the great trust in the neighborhood. Sometimes when men had something to do elsewhere, they’d leave their wives in my father’s custody.

Normally my father was with us or else he told us where he’d be. If he had to work long hours or be somewhere else, he would call. He’d even put the people he was travelling with on the phone. He avoided doing anything that could shake our trust in him. That was his way of being, which rubbed off on us. By comparison, my brother was a bit more cunning. Sometimes he cheated, but he’d be caught right away. Considering my father’s behavior, it was hard to lie to him. It isn’t easy to lie to someone with such a pure heart. You’d soon admit to everything.

[Anthea]

6th Sara Women Festival to be held on 16 June

The Festival is dedicated to Sakine Cansız, founding member of the PKK who was murdered in Paris on 9 January 2013 together with two other Kurdish women politicians, Fidan Dogan and Leyla Saylemez

The festival is organised by the Kurdish Women's Union of Switzerland and is joined by many different organisations.

The preparations for the Festival are underway and the event is becoming more international every passing year.

The National Women's Strike, which will take place in Switzerland on 14 June, makes the festival more important than in other years. One of the main aim for dozens of women organizations is to show through the festival the resistance of women not just in Switzerland and Kurdistan but around the world.

The program of the festival is still being prepared but it will offer many different events. During the day there will be many panels and seminars on women and jineoloji, while the evening will offer concerts and cultural activists. The Kurdish culture will be presented in the Kurdish tent and Dengbejler will perform their stran (songs). One of the important sections of the festival will be special programs for children. The festival will also introduce the JINWAR women’s village project in Rojava. During the day of the festival, artists Pınar Aydınlar, Nuarin, Zhala Shar, Kimbo Sasa will take the stage as well as many dance groups.

Speaking on behalf of the organisers, Medya Botan, from the Kurdish Women Movement called on all women to join the festival.

The organisations taking place to the festival are:

Swiss Kurdish Women's Union, Socialist Women's Union (SBP), New Women, Mor Verein, Frauen lesben kasama, Basta, SP, AL, Aufbau, Purple Red Collective, Fraunbündnis, European Democratic Women's Movement, TEV-ÇAND, CONGRESS-STAR , Frauengruppe Medico International, Solifonds Zürich, Campus Witches, FIST, GRÜNE, Revolionares, Queer Feministisches Bündnis Basel, Labyrinthplatz, Frauencafe, FEDA, Zurich-Amed Brotherhood Bridge, Weltrauenkonferenz

[Anthea]

Sara’s struggle is the struggle of the women of the world

TOTALLY UNTRUE

This year’s Sakine Cansiz (Sara) Women’s Festival held in Switzerland in memory of leading Kurdish Women’s Movement and PKK cadre Sakine Cansiz, KNK Paris Representative Fidan Dogan and Youth Movement member Leyla Saylemez who were murdered in Paris, France on January 9, 2013 concluded with great enthusiasm

The 6th edition of the festival was organized in Zurich Kasernenareal by the Switzerland Kurdish Women’s Union and migrant women’s organizations from Switzerland and Turkey, with the motto “Women’s resistance liberates”. Hundreds of women of all ages attended the festival and chanted “Jin, Jiyan, Azadi” frequently. The importance of the joint struggle of the women of the world was stressed throughout the day.

Strasbourg hunger strike activist and journalist Gulistan Ike attended as a speaker in the festival and spoke about the importance of the hunger strike resistance and the gains it achieved. Ike stressed that the hunger strikes embraced by all sections of society had an impact on breaking the isolation against Ocalan and said the struggle will continue in different arenas.

“SARA’S STRUGGLE IS THE STRUGGLE OF THE WOMEN OF THE WORLD”

The speaker in the name of the BASTA Party stressed the importance of the Kurdish women’s struggle for freedom for the global women’s struggle and pointed to the importance of the joint struggle of the women of the world against discriminatory, sexist and violent policies against women.

“WOMEN MUST INCREASE THE STRUGGLE”

Speeches throughout the festival by a diverse group of women’s organizations stressed that Sakine Cansiz represents the struggle of women everywhere and that women must increase the struggle in every area.

After the speeches, dance groups from many cultures took the stage. An Indian group garnered the most interest while the audience frequently chanted “Jin, jiyan, azadi” in various languages,

The festival continued with songs by Pinar Aydinlar, Nuarin and Swiss artists.

I HATE it when people misuse Sakine Cansiz's name

Sakine Cansiz had NO interest in women's unity worldwide

Sakine Cansiz was only interested in KURDISH UNITY

Sakine Cansiz started as a freedom fighter and moved on to encourage and support Kurdish women

Sakine Cansiz had NO interest at all in women who were not Kurdish