Turkey demands info on Paris killings from France

ANKARA

Kurdish women hold on January 12, 2013 portraits of the slain founding member of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), Sakine Cansiz (2nd L and R), Leyla Soylemez (L) and Fidan Dogan (2nd R) during a protest in Diyarbakir against the killings of the three Kurdish women activists in France.

Turkey is seeking information from France on the killing of three Kurdish women in Paris, Turkish Foreign Ministry Spokesman Selçuk Ünal said today.

“We’ve asked French authorities since the beginning to provide us with detailed information on this matter,” Ünal said.

Sakine Cansız, a prominent figure of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party’s (PKK) European wing, Leyla Söylemez and Fidan Doğan were murdered in an execution-style attack last week as a new round of talks between the Turkish government and Abdullah Öcalan, the imprisoned leader of the PKK, got started.

“We see will for improving relations on both sides,” Ünal said regarding tensions that have flared up recently due to questions of how the women’s deaths might impact bilateral relations with France. He also noted that efforts were still underway for Hollande’s upcoming visit to Turkey.
 
Mali a matter of concern

Ünal also spoke on recent events in Mali, extending Turkey’s wish that Mali is able to stabilize itself in the shortest amount of time. Turkey’s Foreign Ministry, meanwhile, issued a travel warning against travelling to Mali. The ministry also urged those citizens currently in Mali to immediately leave the region.

“Turkey prefers problems to be solved through diplomacy, we do not prefer unilateral interventions,” Ünal said when asked to comment on France’s intervention into Mali.

No contact was made between Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Feridun Sinirlioğlu and Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon while they were both in Washington, Ünal said.