Kazakhstani journalists lay flowers near French Consulate in memory of colleagues from Charlie Hebdo

Kazakhstani journalists have laid flowers near the French Consulate in Almaty to honor the victims of the terrorist attack at Charlie Hebdo, a French newspaper, Tengrinews reports. The terrorist attack killed 12 people on January 7 in Paris, France.

Around 30 local journalists gathered near the consulate in memory  of their European colleagues who died in the terrorist attack. The gathering was organized by the journalists via social media. According to one of the organizers Marzhan Yelshibayeva, the attack in Paris is relatable to the Kazakh journalists, because it concerned politics and freedom of speech.

“There are a lot of sensitive topics, and even in Kazakhstan we are sometimes faced with photographs we are not used to seeing and various discussions. It is about developing the right stand on sensitive issues. (…) The organizers suggested laying flowers near the French Consulate. I think it is a very natural reaction on the part our journalists - a wish to support our colleagues,” Yelshibayeva said.

Another journalist from Kazakhstan Valentina Vladimirskaya reminded that 80 journalist were killed in 2014 around the world. Most of them died in hot zones in Syria and Iraq. However, after the terrorist attack in Paris, according to Vladimirskaya, it became clear that journalists are not protected from attacks even in civilized countries.

The terrorists hit the office of the satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo on January 7th killing 12 people and injuring 20 people. The attackers murdered almost all of the key creators of the magazine. Among the murdered 12 are the editor-in-chief of the publication Stephane Charbonnier known as Charb, Jean Cabut known across France as Cabu, Georges Wolinski and Bernard Verlhac better known as Tignous. Wolinski, 80, was the oldest member of the magazine.

Police issued photos of suspects - Said Kouachi, 34, and his brother Cherif, 32. AFP reported that Hamyd Mourad, 18, the youngest suspect “surrendered to the police at Charleville-Mezieres, 53 miles north east of Reims”. Brothers Kouachi returned from Syria in last summer where they allegedly were trained.

In Summer 2011 the office of the weekly magazine was set on fire by unknown attackers after Charlie Hebdo started new cartoons of the prophet Mohammed.

President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev expressed his condolence to French President Francois Hollande. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan “condemned the barbaric attack”. “We support France in a fight against extremism in any forms and intend to continue the work with our international partners to combat this vile danger,” the Ministry said.

By Gyuzel Kamalova