Leyla Saylemez
Kurdish youth movement activist and the youngest of three Kurdish women shot execution-style at the Kurdistan Information Center in Paris in January 2013, in what French investigators linked to Turkish intelligence.
| Field | Details |
|---|---|
| Full Name | Leyla Saylemez (also spelled Soylemez / Saylemez) |
| Born | January 1, 1989, Mersin, Turkey |
| Died | January 9, 2013 |
| Age at Death | 24 |
| Location of Death | Paris, France (10th arrondissement) |
| Cause of Death | Multiple gunshot wounds to head (silenced weapon) |
| Official Ruling | Homicide (case closed after suspect's death; reopened by anti-terror judge) |
| Alleged Intelligence Connection | Turkish National Intelligence Organization (MIT) |
| Category | Activist / Organizer |
Assessment: HIGHLY SUSPICIOUS
Leyla Saylemez was the youngest victim of the 2013 Paris triple assassination, killed alongside Sakine Cansiz and Fidan Dogan. At just 24 years old, she was an area manager in the PKK's youth organization and a representative of the young Kurdish women's movement in France. French authorities established links between suspect Omer Guney and Turkish intelligence. The sole suspect died of brain cancer before trial, and the case has not been fully resolved despite the families' complaints and the appointment of an anti-terror judge. Her youth and the brutality of her execution — shot in the head with a silenced weapon — underscore the ruthlessness of what investigators believe was a state-directed operation.
Circumstances of Death
During the night of January 9-10, 2013, Saylemez was found dead alongside Cansiz and Dogan inside the Kurdistan Information Center at 147 Rue La Fayette in the 10th arrondissement of Paris. All three women had been shot multiple times in the head and neck at close range with a silenced weapon — execution-style. The scene was a locked-room killing: there were no signs of forced entry, indicating the killer was either known to the victims or gained entry under a pretext.
Security cameras recorded suspect Omer Guney, a 34-year-old Turkish national employed as a maintenance worker at Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport, entering the building between 00:11 and 00:56 — the estimated time of the killings. Forensic evidence linked Guney to the crime: DNA from one of the victims was found on his parka, and his bag contained gunpowder residue. Guney was arrested and charged with the murders but denied involvement.
Guney was diagnosed with a brain tumor while in custody and died in a Paris prison on December 17, 2016, just days before his trial was set to begin. His death eliminated the only defendant who could have been questioned in open court about the chain of command behind the assassinations.
Background
Leyla Saylemez was born on January 1, 1989, in Mersin, a city in southern Turkey. She came from a Yazidi Kurdish family originally from the Lice district of Diyarbakir province in southeastern Turkey — a region at the epicenter of Turkey's decades-long conflict with Kurdish populations. She was the third of seven children.
Her family's story reflected that of thousands of Kurdish families: they were forced to leave their village due to state pressure during the height of the Turkish military's counterinsurgency campaign in the Kurdish southeast. They initially resettled in Mersin, but continuing persecution by the Turkish state forced them to flee to Germany in the 1990s, settling in the city of Halle. Saylemez grew up in Germany and began studying architecture there.
However, she did not complete her studies. After one year at university, she left to devote herself fully to the Kurdish freedom movement. Despite her youth, she rose quickly through the movement's ranks, becoming an area manager in the PKK's youth organization. She organized young Kurdish women across multiple European cities and became a representative of the young Kurdish women's movement in France. She had traveled to Paris specifically in connection with Kurdish political activities at the time of her murder.
At 24, Saylemez represented the next generation of Kurdish political activism in Europe — educated, diaspora-raised, and multilingual. Her trajectory from architecture student to full-time activist mirrored a broader pattern of Kurdish diaspora youth choosing political engagement over professional careers in response to Turkey's ongoing suppression of Kurdish identity.
Her murder, alongside a PKK co-founder (Cansiz) and a senior political representative (Dogan), destroyed three generations of Kurdish women's leadership in a single night. The targeting of all three generations — founder, diplomat, and youth organizer — suggested a calculated operation aimed at decapitating Kurdish women's political organizing across Europe.
Intelligence Connections
- French authorities established links between suspect Omer Guney and Turkish intelligence services, specifically MIT
- Leaked voice recordings captured Guney allegedly discussing assassination plans with two individuals determined to be MIT members; the handlers reportedly promised financial support to purchase weapons from Belgium
- A leaked document reportedly resembling a MIT "mission order" for the operation carried signatures of four MIT officials and referenced a 6,000-euro payment, dated November 18, 2012
- Guney died of brain cancer in his Paris prison cell on December 17, 2016, just before his trial was set to begin
- After Guney's death, the French prosecutor closed the investigation, but the victims' families successfully petitioned for an anti-terror judge to continue the probe
- The families filed legal complaints in 2017 with documents they said proved the killings were "an operation carefully planned by the Turkish secret services"
- MIT officially denied any role in the killings; Turkey's intelligence service stated "our agency has nothing whatsoever to do with the murders"
Why This Death Raises Questions
- The execution-style killing of three women — including a 24-year-old former architecture student — with a silenced weapon indicates a professional intelligence operation, not a personal crime
- Saylemez's relative youth and junior organizational position suggest she was either collateral to the operation or was targeted for her growing influence in mobilizing Kurdish youth across Europe
- The locked-room nature of the crime — no forced entry, silenced weapon, precise execution — points to professional planning
- The sole suspect's death from brain cancer days before trial eliminated the only path to courtroom testimony about who ordered the killings
- French investigators' conclusion of MIT involvement has not resulted in charges against any intelligence officials, raising questions about whether NATO diplomatic considerations shielded Turkey
- The timing during sensitive Turkish-PKK peace negotiations raises questions about whether the killings were intended to derail diplomacy by hardliners opposed to peace
- Thousands have marched in Paris in subsequent years demanding justice, but the case remains unresolved over a decade later
- The killing of three generations of Kurdish women leaders in one night — a co-founder, a senior representative, and a youth organizer — suggests a calculated operation to decapitate Kurdish political organizing in Europe
Key Quotes
"She had been studying at the Department of Architecture for one year when she joined the Kurdistan Freedom Struggle." — ANF News, January 2025
"Kurdish activists in France have always believed that the Turkish secret service ordered the killings, something Ankara has always denied." — France 24, December 2022
"The murders were an operation carefully planned by the Turkish secret services." — Victims' families' legal complaint, 2017
The Counterargument
Turkey's MIT officially denied any involvement in the killings. Turkish authorities have suggested that the murders could have been the result of internal PKK disputes rather than a state-directed operation, though this theory is not supported by the evidence linking Guney to MIT handlers. Turkey classifies the PKK as a terrorist organization and considers anyone associated with it a security threat. The leaked documents and recordings, while compelling, were never formally tested in court due to Guney's death before trial. Some have noted that Saylemez's youth and relatively junior position make her an unlikely primary target, suggesting she may have been present at the wrong time — though this does not diminish the brutality of her execution or the evidence of state involvement in the broader operation.
See Also
- Sakine Cansiz — PKK co-founder murdered alongside Saylemez in Paris
- Fidan Dogan — Kurdish activist murdered in the same triple assassination
- Zelimkhan Khangoshvili — Chechen dissident assassinated in Berlin by Russian intelligence, 2019
- Jamal Khashoggi — Journalist murdered by state intelligence abroad, similar pattern
Other Shocking Stories
- Yuri Shchekochikhin: Russian journalist died days before meeting the FBI. Symptoms matched poisoning. Medical records sealed.
- Vitaly Churkin: Russian UN Ambassador dropped dead in New York. Medical examiner initially refused to release cause of death.
- Nikolai Glushkov: Strangled in his London home and staged to look like suicide. One week after the Skripal Novichok attack.
- Seth Rich: DNC staffer shot twice in the back in DC. Nothing stolen. Case still unsolved.
Sources
- Leyla Soylemez — Wikipedia
- 2013 triple murder of Kurdish activists in Paris — Wikipedia
- Murders of 3 Kurdish women activists in Paris remain a mystery — CBS News
- Thousands march in Paris in memory of 2013 murder — France 24
- ANF — Twelve years ago, three Kurdish women were brutally murdered in Paris
- Leyla Saylemez — 100 reasons to prosecute Erdogan
- Sakine, Fidan, Leyla worked for freedom and peace in Kurdistan — ANF News
This information was built by Grok and Claude AI research.