Page 203 - The Winter of Islam and the Spring to Come

HARUN YAHYA (ADNAN OKTAR)
201

U.S.S.R.'s strategic southern border regions and maintain ties with
Islamic people in neighbouring countries... There are no reliable statis-
tics on how many Soviet Muslims practice their faith. But a political re-
port adopted last year by the 16th Congress of the Kazakhstan
Communist Party noted that Islam is "still strong and growing."
...[I]nformal gatherings suggest that the number of believers far ex-
ceeds the capacity of the country's 300 to 500 legally registered
mosques (there were 24,000 before the Communist takeover). 50
Sadly, this mentality, left over from the Soviet period, is still influ-
ential, both in one section of the Russian bureaucracy and in some bod-
ies in the Turkic Republics. Tension is developing between devout
sections of society and central authority. The fact that one out of every
500 people in Uzbekistan is in prison because of his religious identity is
one of the most striking examples of this.
The tension in Uzbekistan is rising every day, showing that unless
a moderate policy is adopted, the disorder will continue for a long time
yet. When we consider such phenomena as terror, water shortages, in-
ternal , economic difficulties, extra legalities and violations of human
rights as a whole, it is clear the situation can only be put right by radical
changes. At the head of this radical change come giving the opposition
in the country the right of free expression, putting an end to political de-
tentions and imprisonment, and lowering the tension in an atmosphere
of mutual understanding.
Heading these deep-rooted changes in the country the opposition
in the country being given the freedom to express itself, an end to polit-
ical detentions and convictions and a lowering of tensions in a spirit of
mutual understanding.
The most important way for Uzbekistan, which was crushed for
years beneath the oppression and ruthlessness of the communist
regime, to achieve wealth, enlightenment and development, is for it to
take its place under the umbrella of the Turkish-Islamic Union. The
Turkish-Islamic Union is not an idea that Uzbekistan needs to be wary
of or imprison its advocates and repress moves made in that blessed di-
rection. It is entirely inappropriate and unnecessary for the Uzbek ad-