Three Kurdish women have been found shot dead in Paris. One of them is allegedly a co-founder of the PPK separatist movement. Hundreds of people have gathered to protest what the French Interior Minister dubbed as "intolerable assassinations."

The women were found outside the Kurdish institute in the French capital at 1 am GMT. 

"The scene [of the crime] could give rise to the idea that this was an execution, but the investigation will have to establish the exact circumstances of this incident," a police source told AFP.

The three victims of the attack are Sakine Casiz, a co-founder of the militant PPK movement, Fidan Dogan, a representative of the National Congress of Kurdistan, an organization based in Brussels, while the third woman is young activist Leyla Soylemez, according to the Kurdish news website Actukurde.fr.

All three women were last seen on Wednesday, late in the afternoon, in the building of the Kurdish institute.

French Interior Minister Manuel Valls told France-Info radio, “These assassinations are intolerable, and I hope the inquiry will make rapid progress but let's allow the investigators to do their work.”

In the meantime, hundreds have taken to the streets of the French capital, after the Federation of Kurdish Associations in France (Feyka) called for a demonstration in Paris. The demonstrators were chanting "We are all PKK!" and "Turkey assassin, Hollande complicit", referring to French President Francois Hollande, AFP reported.

Portraits of presumed victims are seen pinned on a member of the Kurdish community's coat at they gather next to the entrance of the Information Centre of Kurdistan in Paris, where three Kurdish women were found shot dead, January 10, 2013. (Reuters / Christian Hartmann)

Members of the Kurdish community in France demonstrate while two men (L) carry the body of one of the three Kurdish women shot dead at the Kurdish Institute on January 10, 2013 in Paris. (AFP Photo / Thomas Samson)

Members of the Kurdish community in France protest on January 10, 2013, near the Kurdish Institute in Paris where three Kurdish women were found killed with a gunshot to the head. (AFP Photo / Thomas Samson)

The PKK (Parti Karkerani Kurdistan, or the Kurdistan Workers' Party) is an organization which has been battling for greater autonomy for Kurds in Turkey for decades, with 40,000 people killed during the 28-year conflict. Turkish authorities have recently said they were holding talks with the group’s imprisoned leader Abdullah Ocalan, with a peace plan reportedly being agreed.

The Kurdish institute, as posted on its website, is“an independent, non-political, secular organization, embracing Kurdish intellectuals and artists from different horizons as well as Western specialists on Kurdish Studies.”

Members of the Kurdish community in France stand near the Kurdish Institute in Paris on January 10, 2013, where three Kurdish women were found killed with a gunshot to the head. (AFP Photo / Thomas Samson)

Members of the Kurdish community in France stand near the Kurdish Institute in Paris on January 10, 2013, where three Kurdish women were found killed with a gunshot to the head. (AFP Photo / Thomas Samson)

Members of the Kurdish community in France stand near the Kurdish Institute in Paris on January 10, 2013, where three Kurdish women were found killed with a gunshot to the head. (AFP Photo / Thomas Samson)

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