After bombings, thousands in pro-Kurdish demonstration in Paris

12 Oct, 2015

Several thousand mainly Kurdish demonstrators marched through Paris on Sunday to protest against what they called the Turkish government's "politics of war", a day after 95 people were killed by suspected suicide bombers in Ankara.
The protesters carried a giant Kurdish flag and black signs saying "The martyrs of the revolution never die" and "Erdogan killer, Europe complicit", in a reference to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
"We have come to show our solidarity with people who are suffering in Turkey and the Middle East. This was an attack against progressive forces, against peace, against those who want to make Turkey and the Middle East a stable region," said Yekbun Eksen, of the Kurdish Democratic Council in France.
He added: "We also denounce Erdogan's policies which use hate and terror as the basis for his power."
The Ankara bombings - the deadliest attack in the history of the Turkish Republic - have sharpened tensions ahead of elections on November 1 and comes as the military is waging an offensive against Islamic State (IS) jihadists and Kurdish militants.
No-one has claimed responsibility, leaving the government to point the finger at groups including Islamic State (IS) jihadists, the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and the far-left Revolutionary People's Liberation Party-Front (DHKP-C).
Others blame the government, for allowing tensions to rise.
In the French capital, Firat, a young demonstrator, said Erdogan was responsible for the attacks.

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