Turkey: Exposing the Persecution on World Human Rights Day

On December the 10th, World Human Rights Day, I promoted Falun Gong and told people about the persecution against the practice in Ankara city centre. I set up a display booth with photos of Falun Gong practitioners being tortured by the Chinese authorities because they refuse to renounce their beliefs. There were also pictures of the five sets of Falun Gong exercises. I displayed a banner portraying the story of Falun Gong since the practice was first introduced in China in 1992, some photos of anti-torture exhibitions from around the world, thirty six western practitioners appealing in Tiananmen Square and information on the lawsuits against Jiang Zemin in sixteen countries.

The music of Pudu and Jishi was very touching; as soon as I put up a banner and turned on the music, people turned their heads and came to see what was happening. One young boy sat with me for over half an hour, listening to the music and reading a Falun Gong leaflet over and over. A young gentleman quickly took a leaflet and information about how to learn the practice; he read the display boards carefully and then took some photos. Before he left, he asked me some questions, gave me some encouragement and left a business card so I could keep in touch with him.

Ten minutes later, another group of people came to watch and read the leaflets. I asked a young gentleman, “Can you pass a leaflet to the policemen across the road?” as there were two policemen in uniform watching me in silence. Before the gentleman did this, a couple of undercover police officers identified themselves. They took the leaflets and read them briefly, before nodding their heads to me and leaving.

People came to watch in endless streams. Some asked for information about local classes and others asked a lot of questions, to which I replied one by one. One middle-aged gentleman asked me many questions when he had read all the information displayed, including, “Why don’t you charge some money? How are you going to survive when you have spent so much time, effort and money on this? You might get yourself into danger as well.” I told him, “We do not charge a penny; practitioners pay for everything themselves from their own savings.” He was shocked and continued to listen to me. I explained to him that my heart problems disappeared after I started the practice. I have not spent a penny to heal my illness except to buy some books. I introduce Falun Gong to my friends and whoever knows me, and I always treat people with a truthful and kind heart. This has nothing to do with money. I am here to tell people what the communist leader Jiang Zemin, who started the persecution against Falun Gong, has done to Falun Gong practitioners. I could see the man’s kind nature showing in his face and faith in his eyes. He was moved and said, “You look very peaceful and harmonious.” “Yes,” I replied, “The more you practise Falun Gong, the more peaceful and healthy you become.”

Although I am holding this activity here on my own, I do not feel lonely. Because it was warm and the sun was shining, I started to do the sitting meditation and send righteous thoughts, which attracted even more people. I was honest in my answers to all questions asked by people and reporters: Falun Dafa is a righteous practice, Master Li and practitioners are kind hearted. I was comforted to know that practitioners all over the world were doing the same thing as me on World Human Rights Day.