Mr President,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Dear friends,

The late Dr. Abdurrahman Ghassemlou , Then Secretary General of Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran (PDKI) and Abdullah Ghaderi-Azar a member of the Central Committee and representative of the Party abroad and Dr Fazil Rasul were murdered in a terrorist act in your city (Vienna) on 13th July 1989. These murders were committed by the delegation representing the Islamic Republic of Iran at the negotiation table.

Today at the 20th anniversary of this barbaric terror we are gathered here with the comrades, friends and companions of a these great men of peace and democratic values. We are here to remember their struggle for freedom and democracy, particularly the tireless works of the late Secretary-General of PDKI. At the same time, once again, we want to condemn the cowardly act of terrorists.

Friends,

The terror of Dr. Ghassemlou was neither the first, nor the last act of terrorism perpetrated by the Islamic Republic of Iran. Before and after this terror hundreds of Political activists, well known figures and even lower rank members of opposition parties were murdered in Iran and abroad, particularly in the European countries. They were a great loss to the freedom loving people in a country under the yoke of dictatorship. Although the guilty hands of the Iranian regime is apparent in all of these crimes, in some of these cases gathering enough concrete evidence against the regime, that could stand up in a court of law is not always easy. Especially when the perpetrator of the Vienna terror were arrested by the Austrian police, but then unfortunately under political pressure from the Austrian government of the time were released and escorted to the airport to assure their safe return to Tehran. In Tehran airport they were welcomed by the authorities and later rewarded for the mission they had accomplished.

In our opinion the culpability of the Austrian government in these crimes is not any less than that of the Iranian government. Because of the nature of the Iranian regime resorting to mass murder and terror to suppress any cry of freedom was somehow expected; however, from Austria, a country which have lived briefly under Hitler and experienced the brutality of Nazis, a country that claims to be for democracy and justice and against terror this was not expected. This act of Austria was a crime against Kurdish people, PDKI and all freedom loving people of Iran.

I have no doubt that this dark stain in the history of Austria will not be removed until and unless the authorities responsible for ordering the release of the criminals are identified and questioned. And Austria formally apologise to the PDKI and the Kurdish people. Unfortunately, even now that the Islamic Republic of Iran has been sanctioned with three resolutions, for not complying with the international laws, by the United Nations, Austria has one of the highest economical activities, amongst the European countries, in Iran. Hundreds of Austrian companies are actively involved in Iranian economy, and there are talks of a 22 billion dollar contract between the Austrian oil companies with Iran. Others European countries, particularly Germany, are at the top of the list of the countries which have most trade with the regime. These countries have not even refrained from supplying technical equipments that could be used in suppressing any expression of freedom by the Iranian people.

The Islamic Republic of Iran, which contrary to the resolutions by the United Nations Security Council is approaching to test its first nuclear bomb. Iranian regime is the greatest obstacle to peace between Israel and Palestine. The regime denies the historical facts such as Holocaust and openly calls for wiping off Israel from the map. They finance and organise the fundamentalist Islamic groups to destabilise Middle Eastern countries. In short they have become the main source of instability and tension in the region.

Internally, the brutal suppression of women, religious minorities, and the nationalities seeking their right within the country is increasing by the day. Workers and teachers are often imprisoned for demanding their unpaid salaries in a country with a minimum of 30% inflation. This brutal suppression and harsh economical life has resulted in many psychological ailments and has made life impossible for many people.

A rich country with 70 million populations is living under the rule and religious guidance of a single person. The wealth of the country is squandered on certain obedient groups, his oppressive forces and international terrorists and fundamentalist organisations. As a result, many people in the country live in poverty. Some people resort to selling their kidneys and their daughters to be able to provide for a short term living for their families.

Although this regime rose to power was due to some internal situation and under special circumstances of the times, the long term survival of it could largely be attributed to the help, trade and technical assistance by the western countries to the regime.

For people and organisations that support equality and democracy in the East, Kurdish people and PDKI amongst them, it is always puzzling why those western countries, which claim to be at the forefront of democracy and human rights, are competing with each other in helping and supporting totalitarian regimes such as Islamic Republic of Iran in the region. Their slogans regarding supporting human rights and democracy appear to be contrary to their act of supporting the dictatorial regimes.

Ladies and gentlemen

I can assure you that if from the early days of its establishment, the rulers of the Islamic Republic were made to realise that their disregard for human right would not be tolerated by the international community they would have modified their policies accordingly. A good example of that is the assassination of Dr. Sadeq Sharafkandi (another Secretary General of the PDKI) and his comrades on 17th September 1992 in Berlin. The conviction and sentence of the terrorists by a German court and the implication of the highest level of the Islamic Republic leadership in planning of the terrorist act by the same court has forced the regime to abandon further terrorist activities in Europe.

With the full knowledge of the regime’s ideology and the experience of 30 years of regime’s rule, we believe that although it may already be too late, it is essential that without any further delay the European countries along with the United State of America and their allies and the United Nations to take the danger of the Islamic Republic seriously and try to work together in a more unified and effective way to bring about its defeat.

I would also like to add that the policy of soft approach and negotiation adopted by the new American administration will not succeed. It will allow the Islamic Republic to gain more time to progress its nuclear policy and to gain more control over Middle East, particularly Iraq and Palestine. With regards to these, my views are expressed in a speech which will be presented to you.

In conclusion I want to point to the fact that Kurdish people, Kurdistan Democratic Party Iran, along with the democracy seeking organisations in Iran as well as all the oppressed nationalities in Iran will continue with our struggle against the Islamic regime in Iran to bring about fundamental changes in Iran in line with establishing democratic grounds, and in the course of this struggle we are prepared to pay even bigger prices than we have paid so far. But it is an undeniable fact that the help and support of democratic countries will shorten our path to achieve our goals and will reduce the number of potential victims and prisoners in Iran. It will reduce death and destruction in Israel and Palestine and elsewhere in the region. Our success will put an end to the risk of the regime gaining nuclear weapon, which could be a great danger to most of the world, particularly Europe and America. I would like to conclude my talk with a quote from Dr Ghassemlou who said “the best reward for our martyrs is to continue their path to freedom”

Thank you for listening to me

Thank you for your participation in this 20th anniversary of the assassination of then the Secretary-General of the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran, Dr. Abdurrahman Ghassemlou, who paid his life for democracy and freedom.