2013 triple murder of Kurdish activists in Paris

Fidan Doğan, Sakine Cansiz and Leyla Şaylemez, Kurdish women's activists, were assassinated by gunshots to the head during the night of 9–10 January 2013 in the 10th arrondissement of Paris.

[1] During the night between Wednesday 9 and Thursday 10 January 2013, the bodies of Fidan Doğan (28), Sakine Cansız (54) and Leyla Şaylemez (24) – all three Kurdish women activists – were found in the premises of the Centre d'Information sur le Kurdistan located on 147 Rue La Fayette in Paris.

The French anti-terrorism unit Sous-direction anti-terroriste[fr] found a passport with three stamps from journeys to Turkey behind the radio in a car he borrowed the day of the murder.

On 13 December 2016, Ömer Güney was moved to a hospital for urgent care connected to his brain tumor and he died the next day, five weeks before the scheduled start of his trial.

[11] Eyyup Doru, a representative of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) speculated that the primary target of the triple assassination might have been Fidan Doğan because of her social and political connections in France.

[14] Erdogan refuted the claims from Kurdish activists that Turkey was involved in the murders, but suggested that it may have been a rift within the PKK, who wanted to obstruct the peace process.

The funeral, conducted by an Alevi dede, was attended by around 5,000 people, her coffin wrapped in the flag of the PKK whilst mourners wore white scarves to symbolise peace.

The mourners included Peace and Democracy Party co-chair Gülten Kışanak, and deputies Nursel Aydoğan, Ayla Akat Ata, Hasip Kaplan as well as the mayor of Diyarbakır Osman Baydemir.