Paris (CNN) -- The apparent assassination of three Kurdish women political activists in central Paris on Thursday, all shot in the head, has provoked shock among the Kurdish community. Mystery swirls around the slayings, with no claim of responsibility or any indication from authorities as to who might have pulled the trigger. The fact that one of the women is a founding member of the Kurdish Workers' Party, or PKK -- a group viewed by Turkey, the United States and others as a terror organization -- has led to heightened speculation. The killings come at a delicate time for Kurds in Turkey, where analysts say the government has recently entered into talks with Kurdish leaders -- among them the jailed head of the PKK, Abdullah Ocalan.
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Turkish government spokesman condemns the killings as "utterly wrong"
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The slain women are Sakine Cansiz, Leyla Sonmez and Fidan Dogan, pro-Kurdish party says
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"I cannot describe my sadness," a Kurdish activist says of one victim's death
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Analyst says the killings can be seen in the context of talks in Turkey with Kurdish leaders
Throughout the long conflict in Turkey, the @placeholder has modified its goals from demanding a separate Kurdish state to fighting for the expansion of Kurdish cultural and linguistic rights, as well as the release of Ocalan, the jailed PKK leader.