| |
BY Rashid Haidari
Wednesday, July 21, 2004
Fifteen years after the 1989 Vienna assassination,
the Austrian government should open the closed case of Dr. Qassemlou,
the then Secretary General of the Kurdish Democratic Party of Iran and
his comrades.
Dr Qassemlou was assassinated on July 13, 1989 when
attending a meeting in Vienna with the representatives of the Iranian
government to discuss with them the Kurdish demands for
self-determination within the framework of a democratic Iran.
Dr Qassemlou, a Kurdish veteran, believed that the
Kurdish issue had no military solution and that democratic aspirations
of the Kurdish people should be gained through dialogue and peaceful
methods. He was firmly opposed to violence and saw the Kurdish
military camp in Iranian Kurdistan as the last choice of Kurdish
movement. In fact, it was a war imposed on Kurds not chosen by them.
He, on the contrary, believed in dialogue and in diplomatic solutions.
It was on the basis of this firm belief of him that he had decided to
go to negotiate with Tehran’s representatives. But he was inhumanly
murdered by these so-called peace-negotiators on the table of
negotiations.
This cruel, uncivilized act of agents, sent by
Tehran’s religious, top authorities, once more proved the fact that
“clerics believe neither in dialogue nor in democratic changes which
might result in, among others, solving the Kurdish issue”.
In Dr. Qassemlou’s terror case, the most painful
thing was, and even now is, the unfair position of European countries
in general and Austria in particular on the case. Instead of taking a
firm stance towards Tehran, they chose to be silent and they continued
their commercial relations with that country.
The silence of Europe, especially Austria
concerning the assassination of Dr. Qassemlou has certainly given rise
to destructive consequences. It has not only raised doubts about the
judicial system of Austria but also encouraged the Iranian regime to
go on sponsoring and directing terror groups worldwide more
considerably than ever.
Now, with taking into considerations the important
changes made in the world since the murder of Dr. Qassemlou, specially
ongoing democratic process in the middle-east resulting in ousting
Iraqi dictator and fundamentalists in Afghanistan, and in view of the
more involvement of the Islamic republic of Iran in terror acts1
making the world unsafe and unstable, it would be a good opportunity
for Austrian government to review its policy towards Iran and do its
best to dispense justice instead.
Austria should see Iranian regime as a burden on
the shoulders of Iranian peoples and as a real, serious threat to the
world’s peace and stability. This is because:
-
Internally, Iran is carrying out a suppressive policy. The Kurds and
other nationalities in this country are suppressed brutally simply
because of demanding their preliminary national rights. Students,
intellectuals, advocates of democracy and reformists are broadly
being insulted, arrested, imprisoned and tortured. All these
inhumane behaviours are carried out by Tehran’s regime just because
these people want to express their opinions freely.
-
Iran
both dispatches terrorists to other countries and sponsors the
international terror networks, which are opposed to progressive,
civilized societies and humane values such as democracy, freedom and
respecting human rights. Organizations like Hamas and Hezbollah are
just two examples to be pointed at in this regard.
Iranian regime also follows a policy of Intervening
in the internal affairs of other countries in the region, especially
in neighbouring countries like Afghanistan and Iraq. This causes wide
instability in these countries which might, in its turn, affect the
global security.
-
According to the
International Atomic Energy Agency, IAEA,
Iran has an
atomic programme. We all know that Iran is a very rich country and
needs no high-priced atomic energy. Consequently, we can argue that
the main purpose of its atomic programme is to gain an atomic bomb.
By becoming an atomic country, a dangerous terrorist State like Iran
can turn into a more dangerous one. Thus, it will become a greater
threat to the world’s peace and stability.
Now, taking
into consideration the evil essence of the Islamic Republic of Iran,
it would not be morally right for a democratic country like Austria to
continue its trade relations with that country. It should not be
silent any more before Dr. Qassemlou’s murder either. Silence is not
what advocates of democracy and peace, Dr. Qassemlou’s main
aspirations, are expecting from that country. Austria is instead
expected to carry out its humane, moral duty by letting Dr.
Qassemlou’s case be investigated and paving the way for Tehran’s
agents to be brought to justice. Breaking that -15-year-old silence
regarding Dr. Qassemlou’s case and his comrades, who were murdered on
its national territory, would be the moral responsibility of Austrian
government.
1According
to the BBC, On Sunday,
19 July, 2004
the CIA's acting director, John McLaughlin, told US television that
the CIA had known for some time that eight of
Sept. 11 hijackers
travelled through Iran.
"We have ample evidence of
people being able to move back and forth across that terrain," Mr
McLaughlin told Fox News Sunday.
[[If the truth of that
claim is proved it could show the scale of dangerousness of Iranian
Islamic regime.]]
|
|