ASIA RFA: We know you from your works. We know you from the Science Research Foundation. Could you first give us some brief details about the Science Research Foundation? What fields does it work in? When was it founded? Just in brief for our listeners.
ADNAN OKTAR: Yes, the Science Research Foundation is a pro-Ataturk, nationalist, religious, spiritual and heroic community that espouses truth and beauty, Turkey’s becoming a Great Turkey, the Turkish-Islamic Union and the salvation of all Muslims, and captive states and nations in the territories of that Turkish-Islamic Union geography.
ASIA RFA: When you say Turkish-Islamic Union, where exactly do you mean?
ADNAN OKTAR: Everywhere from The Adriatic to China. Including the Caucasus and Turkistan. Including East Turkestan, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Pakistan, Iran, all of these included
ASIA RFA: Where do you place Christian and Buddhist Turks within that?
ADNAN OKTAR: They will also live at ease within that union. They rights will be protected in the finest manner. It will even ensure that atheists enjoy the necessary respect, concern and services.
ASIA RFA: Yes, Mr. Harun. Now, you know about East Turkestan, of course. Enver Pasha died in Tajikistan, in what is now Turkistan territory. Many people in Turkey today say that Enver Pasha was a dreamer. But they might not be saying that if Turkistan, the pan-Turanian Union, had become a reality at that time. What we have today, of course, is the work of Nursultan Nazarbayev, which has been around for some time. There is talk of the establishment of a Turkistan [pan-Turkish] Union. What do you think of that?
ADNAN OKTAR: There is only one union. That is the Turkish-Islamic Union. It rests on the most perfect, most splendid, powerful and credible foundations. This is a just union acceptable to and including everyone. It will defend Armenians within the Turkish-Islamic Union. And Israelis and Jews. And Buddhists. And atheists. It will protect and embrace them all. But if one only wants this kind of Turk or that kind of Turk, then that is corruption. There can be no such thing. There are no different kinds of Turk. Turks are Turks. Wherever they may be in the world, they are brothers. There can be no diversity within Islam. They may be Sunnis, or Shiites, as in Azerbaijan. Or they may be Wahabbites. Or Alawites. But they are all our brothers. None of the separatist definitions can be accepted. We shall unite them all together, InshaAllah.
ASIA RFA: When we speak of Turkistan, the Turkic Republics that have emerged from Russia after a century. In the old times when you were speaking of a Turkish-Islamic geography, it was places like Bukhara and Samarkand that have been the centres of Islamic civilisation, but these are now a society that have been exposed to communist materialism, Darwinist education, for 100 years. But now Islam is there. What kind of infrastructure does the Turkish-Islamic Union have there? What is your view of the conception of Islam there? In other words, how feasible is the union?
ADNAN OKTAR: The Turkic states were purer, more honest and better during the Communist period, as they had not yet been corrupted. The effect has been a completely opposite one. Go to East Turkestan, for instance, and you will see delightful people there. There are highly virtuous, pure Muslims there. Women or young people, they all possess immaculate Islamic moral virtues. Muslims have degenerated in many places, but not there. When we go to Turkistan, for example, we are amazed at the immaculate, well brought up people we meet there. Communism has had the exact opposite effect. And that is a blessing from Allah. They have remained quite spotless. They have been insulated. Nobody has been able to damage them. The union will be a very pure one, and it looks as if can easily come about within 10 or 15 years. InshaAllah, with Allah’s leave we are beginning with Azerbaijan, we will just be starting out from there.
ASIA RFA: This is very important, when we speak of soft power in the world today, you can spread your impact across the world through education and writing. You have many works under the name of Harun Yahya on behalf of the Science Research Foundation. Turkish-language, Uyghur Turkish-language CDs have travelled as far as East Turkestan. We have worked over the radio. Could you tell us in brief about these activities? How many works have you produced to date? What languages have they been translated into? What kind of response do they attract?
ADNAN OKTAR: To date they number 260, but it is the Atlas of Creation that has most rocked the world. It has demolished Darwinism all across the Europe. It has literally had the impact of an atomic bomb, as they themselves put it; again in their own words, France has suffered the greatest cultural defeat in its history. And this, again in their own words, is still continuing. There is a glorious chain effect going on. You can see the articles written about this, from our websites. My books have currently been translated into more than 60 languages. Sixty different languages. My book Communist China’s Policy of Oppression and East Turkestan is currently available in Turkish, English and German. Our bothers can download Communist China’s Policy of Oppression and East Turkestan from the internet. It is available in Turkish, English and German. We also have a Turkish and English-language web site dedicated to East Turkestan - www.doguturkistan.com. Our brothers can find all the information they want on it. As for documentaries, they can make us of The Bloody History of Communism, parts I, II and III. I have an article called East Turkestan; An Islamic Society in Communist Territory. I have another article titled: “The Chinese Cruelty in the East Turkestan Should Not be Ignored”. I have another one called "The Truth of East Turkestan". But the real issue, of course, is the eradication of Darwinism in China, and we are working in China to that end.But since it is a communist country there is no real democracy there to speak of. In recent times, however, it has developed a great dependence on Europe and America. In other words, it has had to open up to the world because of its economic policy. It is now in a weak position regarding both Europe and America. If foreign countries were to sever foreign trade today, the Chinese economy would collapse. That means that America and Europe have it in their power to demolish China. That means that China is no longer as able to defy the world as it used to. This is a sign that the time for the liberation of East Turkestan has come. We must make the very best use of this period. Because East Turkestan is home to the world’s most immaculate Muslims, and perhaps its best behaved people. It is somewhere inhabited by the most insulated, select people. I have witnessed this for myself. That is to say I know it for sure, I am certain. It is therefore crucially important that these people be freed from oppression, a matter of honour for the whole world. It is a debt of honour for the whole world. This great Turkic state has to be freed from Chinese hands. It is unacceptable for any conscious for China to interfere in it. It should let East Turkestan live freely as a state in its own right with its own means. If China wants to trade it can go and trade with it. There is no question of East Turkestan attacking China. So what does China want? What does it gain? If it wants to gain something, that can be commercial. So let East Turkestan and China trade together. Nobody will let it colonize it, however, and what other meaning can taking a country captive have? What does China want from East Turkestan and what does it stand to gain by making it a captive? What happiness can that bring it? What joy will that bring to its heart? What victory is that? It must withdraw from East Turkestan completely. Let the people who live there be free to go to mosques and factories. Let them talk freely and let it turn into a festival. China must now do a good deed there. The time has come. China must stand up and admit it has made a mistake saying: “This country is one that deserves independence. There was no need for us to intervene. There was no point and no logic in it. This is unacceptable in the 21st century. We are withdrawing our troops. And we are lifting our political pressure.”The whole world will love China when it announces it is a free country. Everyone will respect it. China must commit this good deed.
ASIA RFA: You mention this in your book Communist China’s Policy of Oppression and East Turkestan, since 1949 China has executed millions of Muslims among its own citizens, but when we look at the media what we see is the U.S. invasion of Iraq, Afghanistan and later Palestine. We see in the media how many people are being killed every day. But the most painful thing today is the thousands of people in East Turkestan executed and prisoned just for writing books or poems.Tens of thousands of people, but the world is silent. Why?
ADNAN OKTAR: Everyone who favours the idea of the Turkish-Islamic Union should make a huge outcry on this subject. We will be starting our own work in that regard in the next few days. We began with Azerbaijan.It is now the turn of East Turkestan. We shall be raising East Turkestan in the press, talking about people being killed for writing that China should let East Turkestan go, should let its people live in freedom, that it keeps killing; about people being killed just for writing an article, looking up to the sky or down on the ground. This oppression is something that not even someone totally devoid of conscience should be capable of. China is doing this and belittling itself before the world. It is disgracing itself. It is disgracing everything. It is disgracing its own state and nation, and must stop doing so. It must think about this and do these things from a conception of honesty, of rationality and of proper behaviour. It must withdraw from East Turkestan and leave it as a free country. Then you will see how the world opens up to China. Turkey will adopt a most excellent view of it.Workers from Turkey will go to work in China, and others from there will come here. It will adopt a totally different line. But there will always be anger in the nation’s heart so long as this open wound continues to bleed. Many people, many businessmen for example, do not go to China to do business just because of that hatred. Who would willingly go to a country that kills so many people, that commits so many murders? Everywhere is full of human blood. You will have to wade through human blood to go anywhere there today. No Muslim can wade through human blood. They must clean that blood up. They must put a stop to these killings and this oppression will be lifted. They should Let allow East Turkestan to be democratic. Laicism. Let it take its place in the world as an independent country. China will be enriched many times by that. It must not imagine it will lose out by it. It will gain prestige, not lose it. This is not something to be made a question of pride.
ASIA RFA:When we look at Turkestan geography, we see it is of great strategic importance for China. After the USA, China is one of the world’s largest energy consumers. It needs energy, oil, in order to develop. And that comes from Central Asia. There is an oil pipeline from Kazakhstan to Shanghai. There is natural gas from East Turkestan. China has occupied the region four times in the past, and has four times been the superpower in the region. China drew nourishment from there. That is why it is very important for China and China is reluctant to leave it. In contrast, however, it has adopted a relaxed policy towards West Turkestan. So what should the Turkic world, the Islamic world, do? The Uyghurs are rather unhappy with the Turkic world just at the moment, because China really clamped down on them after September, 11th, using the international war against terror as a pretext. Fasting is currently banned and there is no fundamental freedom of religion. That has been determined in Amnesty International reports. What is your view?
ADNAN OKTAR: China has to abandon this Cold War mentality. If it withdraws from East Turkestan it can enter into good agreements with it. It can be given even more petrol, even more electricity. Nothing will put them in a difficult position. The sale of electricity, oil and energy to them is something that Islamic countries already want. That will be to their advantage. They can be sold cheap if necessary. Just so they leave these people on their own. China may want oil, or electricity or natural gas, but there is no excuse for oppressing millions of people and keep them captive. This can be by way of bilateral agreements. It can make an agreement with Turkey, for example. China can sign agreements with states. All the Turkic states can combine together to reach an agreement with China on the subject. We will satisfy all your needs regarding natural gas, electricity or oil. But you must lift your hands from these immaculate people. That is the question; a 50-year agreement could be reached, for instance. And petrol could really be sold. If only petrol was the thing China wants.
ASIA RFA: Yes, what is your view of Turkey’s policy regarding East Turkestan? Turkey has many problems today. Parliament issued a notice in 1998. It is forbidden to fly the East Turkestan sky flag today. Our civil society organisations have a lot of problems here. But Turkey says; “This is damaging our trade relations. For that reason, we will not permit East Turkestan civil society organisations to engage in certain activities in here”. But looking at our trade relations, we import $14 billion-worth of goods from China. We only sell them $1 billion. Poor quality Chinese goods are currently destroying Turkish industry. Chinese goods are a huge threat. What should Turkey’s policy be? When we speak of the Turkish world, of course, we are speaking of Turkey as a deep-rooted state, the successor to the Ottoman Empire. But because of rifts in various policies, Turkey is today unable to attach sufficient importance to overseas. What do you think of Turkey’s East Turkestan policy?
ADNAN OKTAR: The fact is that, willingly or otherwise, Turkey is preserving the Turkish-Islamic Union policy in its heart. In other words, that exists in its genes. Every Turk has a subconscious desire for the Turkish-Islamic Union to be founded. But Turkey lacks the strength to deal with China on its own. That is only possible with the Turkish-Islamic Union. The Turkish-Islamic Union needs to be sped up. It has to be really accelerated. We need to explain to China, very politely, that this Union will also benefit China. This needs to be made clear to the Chinese state in the most diplomatic terms possible. China may perhaps imagine that this union will be to its disadvantage. But it will benefit China, save it, in all regards. It will save it in military terms, and protect it from any external attack. It will also save it economically. The Chinese people are still struggling, and this will enable it to modernise. I see in the papers how the people are still living in tiny places resembling barns. They are desperately poor. Those people will live in much greater ease. China should support the Turkish-Islamic Union for the sake of its own people. This is not a colonialist or selfish union. It is a union of love and friendship, a union of solidarity and toleration, of moderation, built on a basis of laicity. In other words, it will be grounded in laicism, and this is most important. If it is laicist, peaceful and a pro-democratic system, there is no reason for China to be worried by it. This will also allow Israel to relax. It will mean the immediate end to all the conflict in the region. Because, as you know, Palestine is suffering; but Israel is suffering, too, and there is the ever-present possibility of a bomb dropping on their heads. Israel lives behind walls. They are literally prisoners. But they have made themselves prisoners. They have locked themselves behind walls. Let us tear those walls down. Let commercial vehicles roll up there. Let busses and lorries go there. Let ships go, by sea. Let things be made easier. This may be more through the work of civil society organisations if China is to be convinced, of course. But we will be putting in some considerable effort in that direction in the next few days. This is an idea that will free China from those unnecessary fears and enable it to abandon these classic policies of state. Because in classic state policy whatever you do there is somewhere of benefit to you and you go and invade it. You crush the inhabitants and live there yourself. But there is no need to suck blood in order to live. You can do it with love and friendship. It is vampire bats living on sucking blood, it doesn’t suit China to live by sucking blood.
ASIA RFA: The Chinese have a fear of Turkish Islam. That is why the pressure on the Muslim Uyghur Turks has increased of late. I interviewed a teacher only last week. He was thrown out of his job just for reciting the Bismillah in school for the students while eating, on the grounds he was a religious fanatic. That happened only recently. These things are going on today, in the 21st century. We could cite hundreds of examples. When we speak of the Turkish-Islamic Union, will we alarm China still further so the oppression in East Turkestan will increase still further? There are many Chinese books that say that the pan-Turkism, pan-Islamism in East Turkestan has stemmed from Turkey ever since the time of Abdülaziz. They are still writing this today. How effective can this thesis be there when China is acting like this?
ADNAN OKTAR: There is pan-Turkism and pan-Islamism, but there is also the Turkish-Islamic Union. In pan-Turkism if someone so wishes he can interpret this as meaning the Turkish race is superior to the other races of the world and that the other races will be its slaves. People are naturally afraid of that. Or they think of it as an Islamic Union. People might try to turn that into a ruthless system in which very harsh rules apply. We have seen this in the dark times of history. We have seen it in past times. But neither is what I am referring to here. For one thing, we have the guarantee of laicism. The system will be entirely founded on laicism, and that is most important. A Buddhist will be a first-class human being, an atheist will be a first-class human being, a first-class citizen. Muslims will be first-class citizens. Christians will be first-class citizens. Jews will be first-class citizens. And it is laicism that will bring this about. There will be a joyful, loving atmosphere and security, and of course a powerful military presence, a military establishment, wherever there is terror. There will be no need for bloodshed. You will just tell people to give terror up. And they will. Nobody will persist in the face of deterrent force. Wherever there may be terror in the world the matter will come to an end when you call to the individual and tell him to stop, because the Turkish-Islamic Union will be a militarily unbelievable powerful one. Whoever it asks, there the matter will end. And conflict will therefore end. Injustice will end. Nobody can therefore object to it.
ASIA RFA: At that time what will happen to the Westernisation that has been going on in Turkey since the Tanzimat Period (the political reforms of 1839) and the project of joining the European Union?
ADNAN OKTAR: If Turkey joins the EU as the leader of the Turkish-Islamic Union, Europe will greatly rise in stature. It will be a hundred times greater. Europe will then become the greatest state in the world. But the Turkish-Islamic Union will also be the leading state over them all. It will fill the world with money, goods and plenty. Food and drink will fill the streets as if they were waste products. There will be such abundance that people will wonder what to do with it all. This huge waste, war and throwing bombs around, stems from this. Palestine, Israel earn a bit of money. And that money then goes in its entirety on military expenditure. What need is there for that? Come and take your place in the structure of the Turkish-Islamic Union. Your own state can be independent. Establish your unitary nation-state. Nobody can say anything against it. You can have your own military structure, but support this system and there will be no need for military spending. There will be no need to throw bombs around in the mountains. There will be no need to slaughter millions of people. In other words, the logic is one of giving up oppression and letting them live at ease.
ASIA RFA: In terms of the Turkic Republics, there are today seven Turkish flags waving at the United Nations. But when we look at Turkistan territory we see that most of the heads of state there are former communists. Islam today represents the greatest fear in Uzbekistan. Uzbekistan is one of the foremost countries in terms of fear of Islam. How can you tell people in this geography about this Turkish-Islamic Union so long as the administrations in these republics remain unchanged?
ADNAN OKTAR: The Islam on offer in Uzbekistan is something they could find alarming, I mean there is no democracy there. There are no human rights. There is oppression and killing and murder. And they do not give any right to survive to any other school or denomination or thought different from itself. Try being a Sunni. You are finished in that system. Or you may be a Jaferi, you are again finished in that system. You are bound to comply with their own system. But in the system I have outlined, all schools and faiths will be able to live absolutely freely. And in peace. If only Uzbekistan knew about this system, if only they were told about this system,they would say they are at that system’s command. But the pan-Turkism and pan-Islamism proposed are completely different things. There is blood in them. And tears. Whereas in what I am talking about there is love, and peace and brotherhood. There is also the greatest possible freedom of thought and ideas. And everyone is respected for his ideas. What a good thing it will be if someone can openly say he has no religion. Why should he hide it instead of openly admitting it? Instead of being a hypocrite, he can say he has no religion and you then know it and everyone is at ease. If he is an atheist, then he is your atheist brother, friend. That is possible, Allah created him in that way. Allah says in the Qur’an that He will create unbelievers.
ASIA RFA: When I go on the internet and look at what young people in the Turkistan territories are writing I see that they perceive what we call laicism as atheism. We have not made this laicism completely clear. You speak of laicism, but could you tell us your views on the course it will follow?
ADNAN OKTAR: A system in which the state acts as judge in which believers and atheists can be as free as possible. Atheists do not pray or fast, and you respect that. They drink wine, and you respect that. Believers go and pray, however, and you respect that. They fast, and you respect that, too. They read the Qur’an, and you respect. That is laicism. They may sell the Qur’an and religious books, and you respect that. Or someone is an atheist and sells books about his own beliefs, and you respect that, too. That is laicism.
ASIA RFA: East Turkestan is the birthplace of people like Mahmut of Kashgar and Yusuf Has Hacip, and is inhabited by 20 million Muslims. But there are really inhumane practices going on there today. Your advice to the Muslims of East Turkestan is that there are a great many civil society organisations maintaining their activities by various means in order to tell people in the Western world, in the USA and parts of Japan, of the oppression going on there. China is constantly growing. As it grows it becomes unable to tolerate a number of sensitive issues. We have seen the case of Tibet. Tibet and East Turkestan represent two of China’s greatest raw nerves.
ADNAN OKTAR: We shall liberate Tibet, too.
ASIA RFA: What is your advice to people in East Turkestan? What needs to be done?
ADNAN OKTAR: It is of course wrong to pressurise China. The thing to be done is culture. They need to raise top-quality young people. Religious, aware, anti-Darwinist, anti-Marxist, anti-communist people who think well, professors, scientists, doctors and jurists. There is an irresistible force, that of culture. They must attach great importance to culture. Let them enter my web sites and read my books, downloadable for free. Let them read them all and be properly informed. Let them look meaningfully into China’s eyes. China will pull out. It cannot oppose it. No power can stand against culture. For example, you say the Sun has come up. Someone else doesn’t believe you. You lift a corner of the curtain and drop it again, a matter of just a second. If there are a hundred people there they will all see the light and the matter will be over and done with. A Turkestan whose young people have taken to heart there is no Darwinism, who have become expert at telling people of this, who speak of it wherever they go, will already have become an impregnable bastion. So what if there are Chinese troops there? So what of anything else there might be? They would be like a bird perched on the shoulder of a lion.The whole issue is one of turning East Turkestan into a lion, one that will still keep walking even with four crows on its back. It will still go where it wants. We must strengthen the bonds of brotherhood, make no concessions on culture and further reinforce their pure states of mind. And continue down that path. China cannot withstand that. China is constantly developing. As it becomes a super state it needs Turkey, it needs Europe, it needs America. One day soon these countries need to come together and issue an ultimatum. China could not withstand a financial embargo any longer than two weeks. It is not strong enough, it would collapse. The world has that power. But the young people of East Turkestan should be extraordinarily cultured and morally virtuous and have an extraordinary national consciousness. These moral virtues must be strengthened still further and passed on to subsequent generations, and they must be on their guard against degeneration. They will struggle against degeneration. Let them be lions. They will still walk freely even with China on their shoulders like a crow. Nothing will happen.
ASIA RFA: What kind of work are you thinking of doing in respect of East Turkestan? You have written many books and brought CDs outand they can access these over the internet. We can announce that to them, but what are your subsequent plans for East Turkestanor the Turkistan region?
ADNAN OKTAR: We are thinking of starting with Azerbaijan. I have already said that. We shall make intensive efforts for the freedom of East Turkestan,the Turkic states and the Islamic world, but there is one very pressing matter. That is the unification of Azerbaijan with Turkey, because they are in the most appropriate position. That Lachin Corridor will be opened up. Turkey and Azerbaijan will unite, they will be two separate, unitary states with a laicist system. But passports will be abandoned. Visa formalities will be lifted. There will be freedom to settle anywhere people wish. Trade will be as free as possible and there will be a military pact. And there you have the first stage of the Turkish-Islamic Union. But after that East Turkestan is most pressing. Because it is a prisoner.The horror of imprisonment needs to be placed at the head of the agenda. Because the priority must be wherever repression is at its most fierce. And that is where the priority now lies. Its position is even more urgent than that of other Islamic countries. Because the captivity is even more savage. It is fiercer in East Turkestan, than it is in Palestine. The issue therefore needs to be raised and put before the public, by way of the press.Public pressure will wear China down. We will be working to force it into a corner in the days to come, in the major press, with full-scale announcements, in editorials and in television reports.
ASIA RFA: Did you come in for any protests or any pressure from the Republic of China following the publication of these books?
ADNAN OKTAR: No, but I can say that would not worry me in the least. I would actually like them to do it. I would like them to step it up a hundred thousand times. I wish they would make such protests.
ASIA RFA: I have seen the Chinese language editions of your books. Can you send them over there? Do you have readers in China?
ADNAN OKTAR: Thanks be to Allah, we have a great many brothers in China who have been influenced by my books and pray and fast and have converted to Islam. We have links to them, but I cannot give you any names or talk about those connections because that would cause problems between themselves and the Chinese authorities, and that is out of the question. We get a great many of our books into China. They get in through suitable channels. My books are being disseminated inside China.
ASIA RFA: You have, of course, demolished Darwinism here, but you are now taking on the entire western world, America and the whole of China. Where do you draw that strength from?
ADNAN OKTAR: It comes from Allah, of course. If you place your trust in Allah, Allah the Praiseworthy...we cling tightly to Allah’s unbreakable bond. I have placed my whole trust in Allah. Any Muslim then becomes enormously powerful.
ASIA RFA: You have the most excellent publications, and these have been sent to teachers in Turkey. A number of reports against you have appeared in the media. Our radio listeners ask about these books. Where do the financial resources needed for so much work come from?
ADNAN OKTAR: Allah tells us in the Qur’an that He will help those who follow in His path. I have no personal property or wealth. I have no car or house or land or anything in my name in this world. But, thanks be to Allah, He opens the doors of opportunity for my friends. And it is canonically lawful, coming from legitimate sources Allah gives them these means and they are highly successful. Various allegations have been trumped up on this subject. But official state bodies have examined them, and determined that everything was completely legal and above board. There was nothing illegal and no irregularities. They saw that all the sources of finance were legitimate. Allah helps those who travel on His path. The whole issue is one of genuine intent. Allah smoothes our way because our intent is genuine. That was the case with the Prophet Suleyman, who was bound to Allah with a sincere heart and intent. Allah made him the wealthiest and strongest man of his time. That was also the case with Dhu’lqarnayn. He also bound himself to Allah with a sincere heart. And Allah made him the super power of the time. And so shall we be in this age, inshaAllah.
ASIA RFA: How old were you when you first heard about the East Turkestan problem? And how?
ADNAN OKTAR: I have known about it since middle school. It has always angered me, stressed me. China has always been an issue in my mind. I always think of the children there. I think of the young girls. Of what must be happening to them in the hands of the godless Chinese. What is going on, one can’t imagine. Just think of innocent children, young girls, imprisoned in a dark cave like that; I have always thought of it as a cave like that, with bats flying around, like in the horror films. I always thought of them as people made to live in a nightmare.That is why I have always lived with the urge to liberate them. I have had the idea of the Turkish-Islamic Union ever since childhood. It just continues growing.
ASIA RFA: Where are you from? Where were you born? Can one wonder how far back your ties with East Turkestan go?
ADNAN OKTAR: I am a sayyid descended from the blessed Hasan. I am descended from our Prophet (saas). My ancestors moved to the Caucasus at that time. There was oppression at that time, as you know. They moved to the Caucasus to save their lives. Then repression started there, as well, and sayyids began being slaughtered. They fled during the days of communist Russia and came to Turkey. My father’s people settled in the Bala district of Ankara. They Ottoman Empire of the time gave them employment. MashaAllah, the Ottoman Empire had such a protective nature at that time, as you know. They later settled in Ankara proper. I was born and raised in Ankara. I attended middle and high school there. Then I came to the Fındıklı Academy of Fine Arts in Istanbul. I studied for a while in the Interior Design Department there. Then I transferred to the Philosophy Department. That was a school with a far greater communist presence. I transferred there in order to further my activities. In fact, the Fındıklı Academy of Fine Arts was also under the control of the Marxists. I engaged in intense activities there, as well. I began my book-writing activities at that time.
ASIA RFA: Do you attract any reactions from Marxists, from Marxists in Turkey? From the socialists, Marxists in Turkey now?
ADNAN OKTAR: At that time, yes, I did. Not any more, but they used to threaten me then as I was going to school. They said they were going to kill me and I should stop coming to school. And I said I would die if that was my destiny. I said that threats of that kind would not intimidate me. I therefore said I would continue coming and going, and went to the namaz before their very eyes. I went backwards and forwards to the mosque. They threatened to kill me several times.
ASIA RFA: Where have you been in the Turkistan territories?
ADNAN OKTAR: Nowhere yet. But when I do, I will come to a free land, inshaAllah. I hope to go to an autonomous East Turkestan, inshaAllah.
ASIA RFA: In conclusion, is there anything you would like to say to the people of East Turkestan. What message would you like to send them?
ADNAN OKTAR: They are very dear to me, my dear brothers, whose liberation I have been praying for ever since I was a child. And I am striving for them. InshaAllah, the next 10-15 years will be years of liberation. InshaAllah, all captive Turks and captive Muslims will be freed. Let them prepare themselves very well. Let them increase their awe of Allah. Let them raise their cultural levels and their faith. Let them increase their love and fear of Allah. Let them prepare themselves as anti-Darwinists. Let them learn al the frauds and hoaxes of Darwinists. Let them visit my web sites and look at them. Let them intensify their love for one another. They must be on their guard against degeneration. They must strongly defend their national culture. And let them not get involved in anything else. InshaAllah, their liberation is close at hand.
ASIA RFA: Thank you for giving up your valuable time and having this discussion with us.