Open Society Foundations accuses of spreading radical Islam and creating ethnic unrest in Kyrgyzstan
Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan: In an interesting development, Kyrgyz law enforcement agencies claim that they have credible information that US funded Open Society Foundations is involved in supporting radical Islam in Kyrgyzstan.
Allegations came on surface after the raid of Kyrgyz state security agents— GKNB on “Bir Duino”– a human rights organization sponsored by Open Society Foundations.
Bir Duino offices were raided by GKNB on March 27 in Osh and an American journalist Umar Farooq was arrested from the offices of Bir Duino (One world) and was deported from Kyrgyzstan.
Official sources claim that Umar Farooq was trying to instigate Uzbek and Kyrgyz ethnic groups in Osh against each other while Umar Farooq is of the view that he is a contributing writer for Los Angeles Times, the Globe & Mail, Christian Science Monitor, Al-Jazeera English, Salon.com and also runs his own blog.
GKNB further claim that Bir Duino that is registered as an advocacy group is supporter an ethnic Uzbek Imam (Muslim religious leader) who was charged in February 2015 with extremism after he reportedly told people during Juma congregations to join Islamic extremists groups like Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) for spread of Islam. Bir Duino is sponsored by Soros Foundations Network that sponsors EurasiaNet.org and Open Society Foundations.
GKNB claims that American journalist Umar Farooq was invited by Bir Duino who was meeting families of Islamist radicals under the pretext of doing an inter-ethnic tensions research and incidents of Kyrgyzstani citizens leaving to fight in Syria. Official sources claim that Umar Farooq was working to fan ethnic conflict between Uzbek and Kyrgyz population in sensitive valley of Osh.
While Bir Duino claims that deportation of Umar Farooq and raids on its offices were acts of political victimization as Bir Duino works on human rights issues and voices for those who are victimized by law enforcing agencies including GKNB in the region of Osh.
Bir Duino director Tolekan Ismailova while talking to US media said last week that security agencies were harassing Rashot Kamalov, a popular ethnic Uzbek Imam in the southern town of Kara Suu and Bir Duino was supporting this Imom. Bir Duino has lodged a complaint about the GKNB raid with the General Prosecutor’s office.
Kyrgyz political circles claim that western countries are trying to destabilize Osh by fanning ethnic hatred between sensitive Uzbeks and Kyrygzs who fought against each other during 2010 riots. Political circles further claim that western countries were using Non Government Organizations (NGOs) for creating unrest and radical Islam under the pretext of human rights.
While George Soros who is founder and chairman of Open Society believes that he helps establish an international system to bring transparency and accountability to the natural resource extraction industries, whose practice of making secret payoffs to local tyrants has for decades fueled some of the world’s worst political unrest and most heinous violence. He believes he has supported independent organizations such as Global Witness, the International Crisis Group, the European Council on Foreign Relations, and the Institute for New Economic Thinking for a better and democratic future of the world. The Open Society Foundations work to build vibrant and tolerant societies whose governments are accountable and open to the participation of all people.
