Three Kurdish women have been found murdered outside the Kurdish Insitute in Paris, with gun shot wounds to the head. One of the women is reportedly the co-founder of the militant Kurdish separatist movement, the PKK.
The bodies of the women were found at 1am GMT last night, in front of the Kurdish Insitute. in Paris' 10th arrondissement, an area with a large Kurdish population.
One of the women was Fidan Dogan, a 32 year-old working in the Kurdish Institut, the Institute's director , Leon Edhart told French channel, BFMTV.
A Kurdish news website has identified a second as Sakine Cansiz, a co-founder of the PKK.
The motive behind the killings remains unknow, however, they come only days after the Turkish government began talks with the jailed PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan.
A crowd of Kurds has assembled outside the Institut, shouting carrying flags. The Federation of Kurdish Associations in France (Feyka) has called for a demonstration in Paris. Police are on the scene.
France Interior minister, Manuel Valls has visited the scene of the murder this morning. Speaking to France Info, he called the killings « unacceptable » but said it was too early to comment otherwise.
The Kurdish Institute describes itself as an independent, non-political cultural organisation promoting the intergration of the Kurdish community in France. Its listed patrons include a number of prominent intellectuals and public officials, including several Nobel Peace Prize winners. French writer Simone de Beauvoir, was a sponsor.