Investigation into murder of three Kurdish women in Paris reopens

Fevzi Kızılkoyun ANKARA

The 30-year-old suspect was the only name released by the French police connected to the murder of Sakine Cansız, one of the co-founders of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), Fidan Doğan and Leyla Söylemez.

Turkish police have reopened an investigation into Ömer Güney, the prime suspect in the killings of three Kurdish women in Paris in 2013, in an attempt to reveal the suspect’s movements in Turkey before the murders.

The 30-year-old suspect was the only name released by the French police connected to the murder of Sakine Cansız, one of the co-founders of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), Fidan Doğan and Leyla Söylemez.

Police are seeking to shed light on the details of Güney’s visit to Turkey just 19 days before committing the murders. Turkish police could not acquire security camera footage in the hotel or the firms that Güney visited during his three-day stay in Ankara before the incident in Paris.

Anti-terror police did, however, find two pictures of Güney at an airport in Istanbul. Police are searching for the locations Güney visited in Ankara as part of the investigation.

Turkey previously opened an investigation into the incident. Güney came to Ankara on Aug. 22, 2012, and applied for a new passport at the Ankara Police Department a day later, according to the initial investigation. He renewed his passport on Aug. 24, 2012.

Cansız, 55, a founding member of the PKK; Doğan, 32, a spokeswoman for the organization in France and Europe; and a trainee named Şaylemez, 25, were assassinated in Paris on Jan. 9, 2013. The killings sent a shockwave through Europe’s Kurdish community. On Jan. 17, tens of thousands of people participated in a grand funeral ceremony for the three women in Diyarbakır, a predominantly Kurdish-populated southeastern Anatolia province which has a symbolic importance for Kurds.

Meanwhile, five out of 10 children who were allegedly kidnapped by members of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) returned to their homes in the eastern province of Muş, the local governor said yesterday.

It was claimed that the 10 children, including a girl and ranging in ages between 11 and 20, were kidnapped by members of the PKK in the village of Çataklı in Bulanık district on Sept. 7.

Muş Gov. Vedat Büyükersoy said the families informed the security forces when their children arrived back home early Sept. 9. An investigation into the incident is ongoing.