by Özgür Der, Turkey
5 May 2005
Free Thought and Educational Rights Association (Ozgur-Der)´s Address to the Enlarged Meeting of Int´l Political Committee, Anti- imperialist Camp Florence, Italy
Dear participants, representatives of anti- imperialist organizations and the people against imperialist oppression;
Massacre in Uzbekistan
Lies of the Middle East Project and the Ugly Face of Imperialism
USA and other imperialist western powers who applauded, encouraged and supported the masses calling for "freedom" in Georgia, Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan had chosen to play three monkeys when it comes to Uzbekistan. When they must to say something they played the same song altogether, they took attention to the so-called "terror threat".
The demonstrations and the oppression operations occurred first in Andijan city of Uzbekistan at the day of 12th of May and then spread to the neighbour cities, is a very good example of the global imperialism´s collaboration with the local despotic hegemonies which are in power throughout the Islamic geography. At the day, as civil protests against long time oppression policies turned into an uprising against Karimov dictatorship, hundreds of opponents were brutally killed with heavy machine-guns in Andijan and other cities. The civil protesters were demanding "their rights to live with their Islamic identity", "freedom" and "just" and most of them haven´t got a weapon on his hand. They were killed by Uzbek army brutally. This is clearly a human rights violation, a violation of all international treaties including international arms trade treaties and a brutal massacre.
This double faced policy is a common story for us and is the reality of the Middle East and the Muslim geography. Imperialism is killing brutally, making massacres, occupying our lands, building concentration camps, making wide abuses and tortures, stealing our natural sources including oil and widening a campaign against all opponent and anti-imperialist movements.
Discrimination and terrorisation of Muslim minorities is going on its highest level throughout Europe and North America. There is a wide range of racist campaign against opponent and anti-imperialist Muslim minorities of Europe and America´s; so many people are being arrested with the charge of being "terror connected or sympathized" or in custody even without no charge for years. There is a wide campaign against isolating Muslim people from the society in Europe. Millions of Muslim women are banned from their schools and work places because of their Islamic headscarf. Muslim schools and mosques are under attack. This is a neo-racist policy in the name of anti-terror campaign.
Muslims are being killed by USA collaborator local leaders in Afghanistan in civil demonstrations against the desecration of Qoran in Guantanamo concentration camp. The imperialist USA is desecrating all Muslim values including Qoran and this is a part of the imperialist plan to prejudice and dissolve the Islamic resistance against imperialism in Iraq, in Afghanistan, in Palestine, in Lebanon, in Chechnya and throughout the Islamic geography.
On the one hand they try to dissolve the resistance who is fighting for freedom and justice, by military means, by occupation and massacres like in Fallujah. On the other hand imperialism trying to dissolve resistance with efforts to support "modest Islamic" projects. The Great Middle East Project is the project to dissolve Islamic resistance of Middle East. USA imperialism says they want "democracy and freedom" in Middle East but the only thing they want is keeping USA interests and imperialist plans. Everybody knows that USA is the long time supporter of dictatorships of Middle East as in the rest of the world. They are criticizing and want to change puppet dictator allies with modest ones now because they saw that the puppets are reoded very much. They want modest new dictators, so-called democrat one´s like Afghanistan´s Karzai and Iraq´s Allawi. But when it comes to Islamic opponent powers, they want to see more and more Andijan Massacres in Islamic world, this is the ugly, and the real face of the empire. The Great Middle East Project as an imperialist vision and a threat to all opponent forces must be strongly rejected by all anti-imperialist, popular and leftist forces, as Islamic movement did strongly.
The Bloody Friday of Andijan, has shown that despite the deep conflicts of interests between imperialist powers like USA, Russia and EU; they all unite on the same front against Islamic movements and Islamic resistance. Today the "TERROR" and "TERRORIST" label, which is being used against Islamic movements and in a wide scale for all resistance movements throughout the world, is the key of the ground for an alliance and cooperation between all colonialist and imperialist powers. Any demand, reject or uprise, seen as deserving to be treated brutally, all unjustfull answers and inhuman treatments, after labelled with being "Terrorist" or carrying a "Terrorist potential". They are building new ghetto walls in Palestine to "clear" millions of Palestinian people and for justifying this concentration camps they say that "terrorists are millions"!
The massacre occurred in Uzbekistan as the one´s in Iraq, in Afghanistan, in Palestine, again show the ugly face of imperialists. They are talking about bringing Democracy to Middle East, making reforms, widening freedoms, improving civil society and making standard for human rights. But Uzbekistan massacre shown the double face of them. Kill them all brutally if they are anti-imperialist but support them if they are pro- western and collaborator! For a time USA is trying to reshape and deform Islamic world and Middle East in the name of The Great Middle East Project. In these context the first phase is to down regime´s which are closing the way of American expansion, like Syria, Iran and Lebanon and expanding pressure on all oppressed people. For this sake the movements in the region which have tendency for collaboration with imperialists are being supported by monetary and strategic means. And especially they want to transform Islamic resistance capacity into modest Islamic streams and they support modest so-called Islamist collaborators in civil society and at politics arena. This is the "Freedom" lie of neo-colonialist and imperialist powers.
As Free Thought and Educational Rights Association- Ozgur-Der, we say, we do not and will never get dissolved against the massacres and occupation threats and we will never compromise with oppressive empire. Our way is the way of fighting with and for the oppressed people and for the man and woman convicted to poverty. They will never be able to get the resistance, down with USA-zionist imperialism. We are strongly embrace to our Quranic values enlights our way for freedom and just in the world despite all desecration of our values and in the face of lawless war. Imperialism will be beaten in Iraq, in Palestine, in Afghanistan, in Chechnya, in Indonesia and resistance will win!
Greetings to the committee and with solidarity against the imperialist oppression.
Long live Global Intifadah!
Long Live Iraqi and Palestine Resistance!
Free Thought and Educational Rights Association (Ozgur-Der) from Turkey