Paris rocked by second day of riots between police and Kurds over deadly shooting
Renewed clashes broke out in Paris between police and Kurdish protesters angry at the killing of three members of their community on Friday.
Several cars were overturned and small fires were set alight near the Place de la Republique, where the Kurds earlier held a peaceful protest.
Violence later erupted as some demonstrators left the square, throwing projectiles at police who responded with tear gas.
On Friday, a gunman carried out the killings at a Kurdish cultural centre and nearby cafe in Paris’s 10th arrondissement.
Police arrested a 69-year-old man who they said had recently been freed from detention while awaiting trial for a sabre attack on a migrant camp in Paris one year ago.
After questioning the suspect, investigators had added a suspected racist motive to initial accusations of murder and violence with weapons, the prosecutor’s office said on Saturday.
After an angry crowd clashed with police on Friday afternoon, the Kurdish democratic council in France (CDK-F) organised a gathering on Saturday at the Place de la Republique.
Hundreds of Kurdish protesters, joined by politicians including Alexandra Cordebard, the mayor of the 10th arrondissement, waved flags and listened to tributes to the victims.
“We know that we are under threat, Kurds in general, Kurdish activists and militants. France owes us protection,” Berivan Firat, a spokesman for the CDK-F, told BFM TV.
Friday’s attacks came ahead of the anniversary of the killings of three Kurdish women in the French capital on Jan 2013.
An investigation was dropped after the main suspect died shortly before coming to trial, before being re-opened in 2019.
David Andic, a lawyer representing the CDK-F, told reporters: “The Kurdish community is afraid. It was already traumatized by the triple murder [in 2013]. It needs answers, support and consideration.”
Kurdish representatives, who met with the capital’s police chief, reiterated their call for the shooting to be considered as a terror attack.
The questioning of the suspect was continuing, the prosecutor’s office added.
