Kurds protest killing of 3 community members at Paris centre

Members of the Kurdish community on Friday (local time) took to the streets in Paris to protest the shooting of three people at a cultural centre and Kurdish cafe, reported CNN.

A gunman shot dead three people at a Kurdish cultural centre and nearby Kurdish cafe in central Paris, prompting violent protests in nearby streets as night fell. Police had to fire teargas to quell protesters at the site of the deadly Paris shooting.

All three people killed inside and near the Kurdish Cultural Center Ahmet-Kaya on Rue d'Enghien were Kurds, the centre's lawyer confirmed to CNN.

The suspected attacker, a 69-year-old French man with a long criminal record, has been arrested.

He was not part of any far-right groups monitored by the police, French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin told journalists at the scene.

"He (the suspect) clearly wanted to take it out on foreigners," Darmanin said.

"For now, no elements can allow us to know if the attack is specifically targeting Kurdish people," he added.

Clashes with dozens of protesters, mostly from the Kurdish diaspora, broke out during Darmanin's visit to the site of the attack, reported CNN.

While the shooting incident has not been designated a terror attack, Paris Prosecutor Laure Beccuau said earlier that investigators are not ruling out possible "racist motivations" behind the shooting.

"When it comes to racist motivations, of course, these elements are part of the investigation that was just launched," Beccuau said.

French President Emmanuel Macron deplored the 'heinous attack' in which "the Kurds of France have been the target", in a Twitter post.

"The Kurds of France have been the target of a heinous attack in the heart of Paris. My thoughts are to the victims, to the people who are fighting to live, to their families and loved ones. My gratitude to our law enforcement forces for their courage and calmness," Macron said.

Police in Paris and across France have been ordered to protect Kurdish sites and Turkish diplomatic institutions following the attack, according to Darmanin.

He has also asked the French president and prime minister to allow Kurdish people who want to hold demonstrations to do so, reported CNN.

The shooting suspect was released from detention less than two weeks ago as a court is still investigating his previous involvement in violence with a "racist nature," the Paris prosecutor's office said in a statement.

He was convicted twice, in 2017 and 2022, for committing a gun violence. An investigation was also launched by a Paris court in 2021 for violence 'with a racist nature', according to the statement.

The last incident led to his getting put under pre-trial detention while the court conducts an investigation.

Following the incident, crowds gathered near the centre, where people of Kurdish descent were heard chanting the Kurdish phrase 'Sehid Namirin', meaning those who are lost are never really lost but with us, according to CNN.

Some people were also heard chanting 'Murderer Erdogan', in a reference to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's robust stance against Kurdish nationalism, and his policies towards Kurdish far-left militant and political groups based in Turkey and Iraq.

( With inputs from ANI )