Kurd protesters clash with riot police as cars are overturned and fires lit in angry demonstrations

Furious protestors have lit fires and overturned cars as they clash with riot police in the wake of a fatal racist shooting in Paris. 

Demonstrators protested near Republic Square as politicians spoke at a peaceful protest earlier today. 

Clashes broke out as some demonstrators left the square, throwing projectiles at police who responded with tear gas.

A gunman fired ‘blindly’ at a Kurdish cultural centre on Friday in a busy part of Paris’ 10th district, killing three and wounding several others. 

Fires were lit as demonstrations turned violent. Riot police also clashed with protestors yesterday evening after the news of the shooting first broke

Several cars were overturned after Kurdish activists, left-wing politicians and anti-racism groups held a protest Saturday in central Paris

Police arrested a 69-year-old man who the authorities said had recently been freed from detention while awaiting trial for a sabre attack on a migrant camp in Paris a year ago.

Following questioning of the suspect, investigators had added a suspected racist motive to initial accusations of murder and violence with weapons, the prosecutor’s office said on Saturday.

The murders have stunned a community preparing to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the unresolved murder of three activists. 

A car is overturned and a man kneels in the broken glass during a further clash between Kurds and the French riot police

Protesters stand behind flames during clashes following a demonstration of members of the Kurdish community, a day after a gunman opened fire at a Kurdish cultural centre

The gunman killed three and wounded several others in a cultural centre and nearby hair salon in the trendy 10th district of Paris

A protestor holds a picture of popular musician Mir Pewer, one of the victims of yesterday’s shooting

After an angry crowd clashed with police on Friday afternoon, the Kurdish democratic council in France (CDK-F) organised a gathering on Saturday at Republic Square.

Thousands gathered Saturday at the Place de la Republique in eastern Paris, waving a colourful spectrum of flags representing Kurdish rights groups, political parties and other causes. 

The gathering was largely peaceful, though some youths threw projectiles and skirmished with police firing tear gas. Some protesters shouted slogans against the Turkish government. 

The protest allegedly began violent after provocation from Turkish supporters. 

‘There were provocateurs who passed in a vehicle with the Turkish flag making the sign of the Gray Wolves, so automatically it provoked the young people,’ Berivan Firat, spokesperson for the CDK-F said. 

The Gray Wolves are a Turkish ultranationalist organization, extremely hostile towards the Kurdish community. 

The Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, ordered the dissolution of this far-right organization in 2020. 

Fires have been lit and projectiles were thrown by angry protestors after a gunman killed three people yesterday

French riot police deployed tear gas and other riot police to try to contain the crowds of furious protestors after the Kurdish community said it does not feel safe

Fires were lit and cars overturned this afternoon as a peaceful demonstration became violent 

A person throws a projectile as anger once again spills into the streets after a massacre in a Kurdish Cultural Centre

French riot police have been deployed again today to contain the crowds of angry Kurdish demonstrators

Politicians made speeches at the peaceful protest earlier today before some demonstrators violently escalated proceedings

The ‘far-right’ gunman killed three at the Kurdish Cultural Centre near the Gare Du Nord in central Paris

‘We know that we are under threat, Kurds in general, Kurdish activists and militants. France owes us protection,’ the spokesperson added. 

Friday’s murders came ahead of the anniversary of the killings of three Kurdish women in Paris in January 2013.

An investigation was dropped after the main suspect died shortly before coming to trial, before being re-opened in 2019.

‘The Kurdish community is afraid. It was already traumatized by the triple murder (in 2013). It needs answers, support and consideration,’ David Andic, a lawyer representing the CDK-F told reporters on Friday.

Kurdish representatives, who met with Paris’ police chief on Saturday morning, reiterated their call for Friday’s shooting to be considered as a terror attack.

The three victims of the attack were named by European Kurdish Democratic Societies Congress, based in Belgium, on Saturday.

Pictured: Emine Kara, the leader of the Kurdish women’s movement in France, who was refused asylum in the country earlier this year, was identified as one of the victims

Pictured: Abdullah Kizil, a dissident, was one of the dead identified from the massacre. The victims were described as ‘martyrs’ by the European Kurdish Democratic Societies Congress, who named them on Saturday

Pictured: Mir Perwer, a popular Kurdish singer exiled in France, was also gunned down

They include Emine Kara, the leader of the Kurdish women’s movement in France, who was refused asylum in the country earlier this year.

This infuriated Kurdish nationalists, who accused the French authorities of not doing enough to protect her.

Mir Perwer, a popular Kurdish singer exiled in France, was also gunned down, as was Abdullah Kizil, another dissident.

A spokesperson said the victims were ‘martyrs’ of the racist attack.