Three Kurdish women, including one of the founders of a militant group battling Turkish troops since 1984, were slain in Paris, French officials said Thursday. Angry Kurds immediately flooded the area, with some claiming the killings were a "political assassination." There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the killings. A Turkish lawmaker with the ruling party claimed the women were slain in a dispute between factions of the Kurdistan Workers Party. The group, known as the PKK, is considered a terrorist organization by Turkey and its allies, including the United States and the European Union. Kurdish protesters and a Kurdish lawmaker in Turkey claimed the Turkish government was involved. The PKK has been battling Turkish troops since 1984, seeking self-rule for Kurds in southeast Turkey. The conflict has claimed tens of thousands of lives. Kurds make up more than 20 percent of Turkey's 75 million people and also live in Syria, Iran, Iraq and other neighboring areas. The slayings were being investigated by France's anti-terrorism police, although it was not clear if the women were currently linked to the PKK. RTL radio reported that all three were shot in the head, but French police would not immediately confirm that report. Autopsies were reportedly under way. "We hope that the investigation will come to a quick resolution and the guilty will be identified," said French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius. Turkey's Anadolu news agency identified one of the victims as Sakine Cansiz, a founding member of the PKK, but French officials would not formally confirm the name. The Paris prosecutors' office did confirm that the other two victims were Leyla Soylemez and Fidan Dogan. A news agency linked to the PKK, Firat news, said the 30-year-old Dogan was the Paris representative of the Kurdistan National Congress. It said she joined the Kurdish movement in 1999. Emotions mounted Thursday as hundreds of Kurds filled the street in Paris outside the Kurdistan Information Center where the bodies were found. Police erected barricades to try to contain the marching crowd. Where are French? Where is that solidarity? I think that the state of Turkey did this," said one man in the crowd, identifying himself only as Ali. A group of Kurdish legislators headed to Paris to try to meet with France's interior minister. Lawmaker Nazmi Gur, one of the group, knew Dogan. He said she had French citizenship and frequently attended meetings at the European Parliament or the Council of Europe on matters related to Kurds. Information about the slayings was scant and conflicting. According to the Federation of Kurdish Associations of France, the three women were alone at the center Wednesday and were unreachable by telephone. In a statement, the group said friends went there after midnight and saw traces of blood on the door, so they broke it down and discovered the bodies.