Le Figaro Marseille
It is a confrontation which could have seriously degenerated without the intervention of the police, who helped put an end to a real inter-community brawl between Turks and pro-PKK Kurds on Sunday shortly after midnight in Marignane (Bouches- du-Rhône).
According to consistent police sources, this real
“descent”
against a backdrop of rivalry between communities was brought under control in time by several crews from the anti-crime brigade (BAC) who patrolled the area.
As reported by a source, one of the crews first intercepted a group of
around “sixty”
individuals
“with concealed faces”,
some of whom were armed with sticks and Molotov cocktails, and carrying scarves on their heads. colors of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), an armed political organization considered
“terrorist”
by Turkey, the European Union and part of the international community.
These individuals, clearly threatening, were heading at high speed in the direction of a residence in Marignane nestled in Parc Camoins, a district of the town known to be frequented by a large Turkish community.
Aware that they were witnessing the beginnings of a general brawl, the BAC police officers quickly called for reinforcements.
9 Molotov cocktails in a suspect's bag
On site, the suspects began to fight by sending several cocktails towards the parking lot of a residence frequented by the Turkish community, before being quickly dispersed by the intervention of police crews equipped with tear gas spray.
The agents managed to stop the scuffles before they seriously degenerated, although not without difficulty.
During the operation, two young individuals were arrested, one of them slightly injuring a police officer.
The first, born in 2003, carried no fewer than nine Molotov cocktails in his bag.
The second, born in 1999, had targeted the police using one of the glass bottles filled with burning gasoline.
The two were placed in police custody, with one of them even subject to an obligation to leave French territory (OQTF), according to a police source.
The parking lot of the residence was marked by two impacts on the ground after the Molotov cocktail was thrown.
Aside from the police officer, no other people were injured in the brawl.
The clashes between the Turkish community and the Kurds are not isolated events in France and Europe.
On Monday, a pro-Kurdish gathering in Brussels degenerated into a fight pitting PKK supporters against members of the Turkish community.
At the beginning of January 2023 in Marseille, Kurds who were members of the PKK threw Molotov cocktails in the direction of the Turkish consulate general, located in the 8th arrondissement of the city.
Here again, two individuals were arrested by BAC agents who were on their trail.