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Turkish PM: Killings may signal PKK split

ANKARA, Turkey, Jan. 11 (UPI) -- The killings of three Kurdish women in Paris could have been the result of division within a Kurdish terrorist group, the Turkish prime minister said Friday.

The bodies of the women, including Sakine Cansiz, a co-founder of the Kurdistan Workers Party, were found early Thursday at the Kurdistan Information Center in Paris, Today's Zaman reported.

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All the women had been shot.

Speaking to reporters, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the women may have known the person who killed them. A sophisticated lock on the buildings would have kept out intruders, suggesting the door was opened to someone the women knew.

Erdogan said it was a strong possibility the homicides were done by someone inside the PKK, raising the possibility of a split within the organization.

Turkey is negotiating with the PKK to end a 28-year civil conflict, and the prime minister said some people in the organization may not want peace.

French Interior Minister Manuel Valls has described the killings as "surely an execution."

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