Recently renewed peace talks between Turkey and militants from the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) were under pressure Friday, as allegations continued to swirl about the murder of three Kurdish activists in Paris the day before.
No suspects in the murder have been named, but that has not stopped Kurdish activists and Turkish officials from levelling blame at one another for the killings, reported Turkish and Kurdish media.
A coroner's report said that the three women had all died after multiple gunshots to the head.
One of the dead was Sakine Cansiz, a PKK founding member. Investigators have said the attack bore elements of an execution.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said that signs are mounting that the murder was linked to internal feuding within the PKK.
But the Kurdish-linked Peace and Development Party (BDP), which has ties to the PKK, rejected such statements.
"The Turkish AKP (Justice and Development Party) government and the French state remain the main suspects, so long as the truth is not known," said Gultan Kisanak, co-head of the BDP, reported the
Firat news agency.
Kisanak travelled to Paris Friday with her colleague Selahattin Demirtas and demanded answers from France.
"No one can convince us that this was done without the knowledge of the French intelligence service," said Demirtas.
Recent talks between the Turkish MIT intelligence agency and incarcerated PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan have attempted to convince the group to lay down its weapons and for its leaders to leave the
country.
More than 40,000 people have died since the PKK launched its armed campaign for an independent state in 1984. It is regarded as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union.
Human Rights Watch has also demanded a full investigation into the murders. About 300 people demonstrated against the killings in Istanbul Friday, accompanied by a heavy police presence as they
carried pictures of the dead and BDP flags.
The three dead women - Cansiz, Fidan Dogan and Leyla Soylemez - were hailed as martyrs. Further marches are planned for Saturday in Paris.