Sodiq Safoyev responds to Russian publications expressing inadequate attitude to Mirziyoyev’s speech

“I read the publications of the Russian mass media on President Shavkat Mirziyoyev’s speech at the ceremony dedicated to the commemoration of the victims of repression.

It is a completely inadequate reaction to the balanced, concise and very sincere speech of the President of Uzbekistan, who commemorated the victims of repression by the established regime.

What is here to be dissatisfied with? The regime was brutal and merciless, wasn’t it?

The deceased were really victims of inhuman repression, weren’t they? No man in his right mind would question that.

I also participated in the ceremony held at the place that has become a landfill and a cemetery for thousands of our compatriots who dared to raise their voices against the regime and for the freedom of the Motherland. It took place solemnly, in a kind of sincere and human way.

Right here, we have humanely repaid our debt to those who bravely accepted their death at the hands of executioners. Is this now a reason for sensational politicization and populist panic?” Safoyev wrote on his Twitter page.

It should be recalled that on August 31, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev visited the Martyrs’ Memorial Alley with public activists and commemorated the victims of repression. Also, the head of state visited the museum Memorial of Repression Victims and expressed his opinion about independence and people who died protecting their rights.

“There is a reason why we always come here and pay tribute. Achieving independence has not been easy. Although it has been 31 years since we achieved independence, our grandfathers tried to gain it 100 years ago. 100,000 of our compatriots were repressed and 13,000 were brutally shot. Why? There was an analysis. They were our greatest heroes, great thinkers of the nation. They could speak 2-3 languages. They knew that it would liberate our country and bring development. It is as if their voices are heard here,” Shavkat Mirziyoyev said.

After this speech, some Russian mass media published reports with the content that “the President of Uzbekistan accused the USSR of destroying the Uzbek nation”.