Anti-fascists, Kurds mark Méric killing, Turkey violence in Paris
Some 2-3,000 anti-fascists demonstrated in Paris to mark the anniversary of the death of Clément Méric, who was killed in a dispute with far-right skinheads in 2013. They were joined by Kurds living in France, angry at the bomb that killed two people at an election rally in Turkey this week.
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"Fascism kills, fight it!" declared a banner carried by the "anti-fa", as the movement that to which Méric belonged calls itself.
Méric's death in a confrontation with a group of skinheads near Paris's St Lazaire station caused a scandal in France and led to a ban on the Troisième Voie group to which his attackers belonged, as well as four other small far-right organisations.
Kurds living in France joined the demonstration in solidarity with Méric and to protest at the attacks on the left-wing, pro-Kurdish HDP party during the campaign for Sunday's general election in Turkey.
They chanted slogans accusing Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of being a murderer and his AKP party of being fascist.
Erdogan won last year's presidential election but has been accused of increasing authoritarianism, while a peace process with Kurdish separatists has stalled.
Two Troisième Voie supporters, Esteban Morillo and Samuel Dufour, were detained for over a year for "violence unintentionally leading to death" in relation to the clash in which Méric died but eventually freed.
Two other skinheads are currently being prosecuted for violent behaviour in the same case.
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