Islam Times - Turkey slams killing of Kurd activists

Islam Times - The Turkish government has condemned the assassination of three Kurdish activists, including a co-founder of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

"I condemn this violence," government spokesman Bulent Arinc said Thursday in reference to the killings, which he said were "carried out in the manner of a summary execution.”

"This is utterly wrong. I express my condolences." This is utterly wrong. I express my condolences," he told reporters.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who was visiting Senegal, said it was "too soon to comment" but suggested that incident could be a "provocation" to jinx breakthroughs reached in ongoing peace talks between Ankara and jailed PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan.

The remarks came just hours after the bodies of Sakine Cansiz, a founding member of the PKK, and two other Kurd activists were found shot dead in the Kurdish Information Center in Paris.

The other two were identified by Kurdish sources as Fidan Dogan, who reportedly was chief of the center, and Leyla Soylemez.

Meanwhile, demonstrators gathered in front of the Kurdish Institute in Paris, where the bodies were found, to show their anger at the incident, which the French Interior Minister described as “an assassination.”

The separatist Kurdistan Workers’ Party has been fighting for a Kurdish homeland in southeastern Turkey. Some 40, 000 people have been killed in the 25-year long conflict.