The man suspected of having killed three people and injured three others on Friday in Paris near a Kurdish cultural center wanted “obviously to attack foreigners”, says Gérald Darmanin. “It is not certain that the killer who wanted to assassinate these people (…) did it specifically for the Kurds”, adds the Minister of the Interior, while rumors of a “political” attack, coming from Turkey, were relayed by the Kurdish community.
VIDEO. Shots fired in Paris: the shooter wanted “obviously to attack foreigners”
“We do not yet know his exact motivations,” he insists. Gérald Darmanin do not have information that would link the suspect to previous facts linked to the “ultra-right”. “He was a shooter in a sports club and had declared many weapons,” said the minister.
Several left-wing elected officials, including deputies from Nupes and the PS mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo, have attributed responsibility for the shootings to the “far right”.
Among the victims, “there were no people, to my knowledge, particularly reported and known to the French services”, replied Gérald Darmanin, questioned about their possible membership of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, an organization qualified as terrorist by the European Union.
The minister asked for the reinforcement of security around the places of gathering of the Kurdish community but also near the “Turkish diplomatic rights of way”. A meeting scheduled for Friday evening at the Ministry of the Interior must assess “possible or additional threats” to the Kurdish community in Paris and throughout the territory.