About 1,000 attend 'I am not Charlie' rally in Kyrgyzstan
| Publisher | Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |
| Publication Date | 20 January 2015 |
| Cite as | Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, About 1,000 attend 'I am not Charlie' rally in Kyrgyzstan, 20 January 2015, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/54e1a3e34.html [accessed 22 May 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
January 20, 2015
By RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service
Kyrgyz Muslims hold banners saying "We love Muhammad" during a rally against the French magazine Charlie Hebdo's satirical cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad in Bishkek on January 20.
Some 1,000 people have demonstrated in Kyrgyzstan's capital against caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad, saying cartoons like those published by French weekly Charlie Hebdo "insult the feelings of religious believers."
The January 20 rally in Bishkek's Gorky Park was officially called "I am not Charlie, I love my Prophet."
Demonstrators included Kyrgyz lawmakers and opposition politicians, as well as representatives of the Central Asian state's Daghestani, Chechen, Kazakh, and Tajik minorities.
They held posters saying, "I love my Prophet Muhammad, peace be with him."
The rally came a day after hundreds of thousands attended a state-sponsored demonstration in the capital of Russia's Chechnya region at which political and religoius leaders condemned caricatures of Muhammad and lambasted the West.
Also on January 19, hundreds in Georgia's ethnic-Chechen-populated Pankisi Gorge protested against caricatures of Muhammad.
Islamist militants killed 12 people in an attack on the offices of Charlie Hebdo in Paris on January 7.
Link to original story on RFE/RL website
