Thousands commemorate Kurds slain in France

Thousands of mourners gathered in the French capital on Tuesday to pay an emotional final tribute to three female Kurdish activists who were shot dead there last week. Coffins containing the bodies of the three women and draped in the Kurdish flag were carried by female pall-bearers into a community centre in the Paris suburb of Villiers-le-Bel. They were then placed on an altar surrounded by candles and wreaths in the yellow, red and green of the Kurdish flag before black-clad mourners, many of them clutching a single rose, filed past. Photographs of the three women, Sakine Cansiz, Fidan Dogan and Leyla Soylemez were placed in front of their coffins for a ceremony attended by Kurds from all over Europe. "We are here to ensure their commitment to the cause they fought for will not be forgotten," said 20-year-old Jiyan. Fellow mourner Guler Biger wiped away tears and added: "May their killers be found soon." The bodies of the three women were found inside a Kurdish information centre in Paris last Thursday. They had all been shot repeatedly in the head in what French authorities have described as an execution. Victim Sakine Cansiz was a founding member of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and the other two women also had links to the outlawed group, which has been fighting for Kurdish self-rule in southeastern Turkey for nearly three decades. The killings could have been linked to ongoing negotiations between the Turkish authorities and jailed PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan that have raised hopes of a deal to end the conflict. The negotiations are controversial with hardliners on both sides and one theory is that the murders may have been designed to derail the talks. Kurdish activists believe the killings must have been the work of Turkish extremists while Turkey has suggested an internal PKK feud is a more likely explanation. French police are investigating the possibility of a link to PKK fundraising activities, some of which have been described as extortion. The women's coffins are due to be flown to Turkey on Wednesday for burial in their native towns or villages in the southeast of the country.