(Minghui.org) Falun Dafa practitioners held activities on the beach near the Chinese Consulate in Istanbul on July 20, 2023. They did the Falun Dafa exercises and collected signatures on a petition calling on the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to end the 24-year-long persecution. That evening they held a candlelight vigil to commemorate the thousands of practitioners who lost their lives to the persecution in China. 

A Falun Dafa practitioner was invited to introduce the practice and talk about the persecution during the “Rhythm of Life with Özlem Acar” program on Turkey's national channel, BeyazTV. 

Practitioners demonstrate the exercises in front of the Chinese Consulate in Istanbul on July 20, 2023. 

Candlelight vigil at the Chinese Consulate

Practitioners demonstrated the five sets of Falun Dafa exercises in front of the Chinese Consulate. Many local residents and tourists were drawn by the melodious exercise music. Some asked for more information about Falun Dafa and wanted to know why the CCP persecutes the practice. Several people signed a petition to support practitioners’ efforts to end the persecution. Others asked where they could learn the practice. 

During the candlelight vigil, a couple asked what Falun Dafa was, and talked with practitioners for a long time. When they learned about the persecution, they were upset and immediately signed the petition. 

İbrahim Çakır carefully read each poster and then asked to learn the exercises. Afterwards, he said, “I really like the exercises. I am a very nervous person, and the exercises relaxed me.” 

İbrahim Çakır said all people should support Falun Dafa and help stop the persecution. 

İbrahim said that the CCP has tortured and persecuted practitioners for many years. He said, “I think it is a duty of humanity from all walks of life and from all directions to support your work.”

Introducing Falun Dafa on Turkey's National Television Channel

A practitioner (left) was invited to introduce Falun Dafa on the “Rhythm of Life with Özlem Acar” program on Turkeys' national channel BeyazTV. 

On Saturday, July 29, a Falun Dafa practitioner was the guest of the “Rhythm of Life with Özlem Acar” on BeyazTV at noon. The program was broadcast live. Before the program broadcast, practitioners briefed other guests about Falun Dafa and the persecution.

When the live broadcast began at 11:00 a.m., Falun Dafa was introduced first, and then the persecution of Falun Dafa was explained. As the practitioner spoke, images of practitioners peacefully protesting the persecution were shown on the screen. The host, Ms. Özlem Acar, was very interested in Falun Dafa and asked the practitioner for more information after the broadcast. She was shocked when she was told how the CCP harvests organs from practitioners while they are alive.

Background: What Is Falun Dafa and Why Is the CCP Persecuting It?

Falun Dafa (also known as Falun Gong) was first introduced to the public by Mr. Li Hongzhi in Changchun, China, in 1992. The spiritual discipline is now practiced in over 100 countries and regions worldwide. Millions of people who have embraced the teachings, which are based on the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance, and have learned the five exercises, have experienced improved health and well-being.

Jiang Zemin, former head of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), perceived the spiritual discipline’s growing popularity as a threat to the CCP’s atheistic ideology and on July 20, 1999, he issued an order to eradicate the practice.

Under Jiang’s personal direction, the CCP established the 610 Office, an extralegal security organization with the power to override the police and judicial systems and whose sole function is to carry out the persecution of Falun Dafa.

Minghui.org has confirmed the deaths of thousands of practitioners as a result of the persecution over the past 24 years, though due to the difficulty in getting information out of China, the actual number is believed to be much higher. Countless practitioners have been imprisoned and tortured for their faith.

There is concrete evidence that the CCP sanctions the harvesting of organs from detained practitioners, who are murdered to supply China’s organ transplant industry.