Turkish ultra-nationalist group attacks Kurdish association in Lyon, injuring 4
The far-right Turkish organization "Grey Wolves" has been banned in France since November but that does not deter the ultra-nationalists from violent attacks on political dissidents, ANF news agency reported.
The latest incident occurred in Lyon where the Kurdish cultural center in the La Guillotière neighborhood was attacked by a group of fascists on Saturday. According to the umbrella organization CDK-F, about twenty masked people equipped with baseball bats and various other objects took part in the attack. According to the report, the four people who were in the association were beaten up "extremely brutally" and some of them were seriously injured.
"These organized attacks by Grey Wolves on Kurds in France are not independent of the rapprochement between Emmanuel Macron and Recep Tayyip Erdoğan," the CDK-F said in an initial statement. It is already the second attack in Lyon in two weeks, it said and continued, "Kurdish society is targeted by Islamist-fascists from the Turkish spectrum. We believe that these attacks are carried out on the directives of the Turkish intelligence organization MIT and are intended to bring about chaotic conditions."
The source reminds that the Armenian community in Lyon has also also in the crosshairs of the Grey Wolves. Shortly before the organization was banned from operating in France, a memorial to the victims of the 1915 Armenian genocide in Décines-Charpieu had been daubed with pro-Turkish slogans. In addition to "RTE," the initials of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, "Loup Gris," the French name for the Grey Wolves, was also written on the building.
Related news
- Turkish ultranationalist group 'Gray Wolves' threatens Armenians in Germany - Taner Akcam
- Turkish ultranationalist group 'Gray Wolves' will be officially banned in France today - Arman Tatoyan