PKK founder Sakine Cansiz among three Kurdish activists killed in Paris
Theories swirl after murders that follow reports PKK leader has agreed to deal with Ankara that could see rebels laying down arms
A hit by agents of Turkey's secret services or nationalist extremists, political score-settling between Kurdish radicals, or a feud over extortion money?
All three were put forward yesterday as possible motives for the murder in Paris of three Kurdish women, including Sakine Cansiz, a founding member of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).
The nature of the killings - the women were all shot in the head or the back of the neck - led French Interior Minister Manuel Valls to describe them as an execution. The bodies were discovered in the early hours at a Kurdish centre in the French capital.
The incident came a day after Turkish media reported that jailed PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan had agreed the outlines of a deal with the authorities in Ankara that could lead to the rebel movement laying down its weapons in March. In return, the Kurds would receive guarantees their cultural identity would be protected and jailed Kurdish leaders set free. Such a deal would be highly controversial, both among hardline Turkish nationalists and sections of the PKK opposed to compromise.
Kurdish activists protesting in Paris after news of the killings broke blamed Turkish agents, while officials in Ankara suggested internal PKK divisions were a more likely explanation.
Didier Billion, an expert on Turkey and the Kurds at the Paris-based Institute for International and Strategic Relations, was sceptical about the possible involvement of Ankara.
"I can't see the interest of the Turkish state in eliminating these three activists," he said, suggesting internal PKK divisions were a more likely motive. "We know that there is a radical faction within the PKK that is opposed to any dialogue. You can't rule out the theory of this being the work of people opposed to a deal between Ocalan and Turkey."