"Suspicious Death" of Jury member of 16th Iran’s Resistance Int’l Film Festival in Turkey

Andre Vltchek (57), a journalist and author from the US, who was also the jury member of Iran’s 16th Resistance International Film Festival was found dead in a car on September 22 in Karakoy, Istanbul.

According to the state-run Anadolu Agency, the police recorded the incident as a "suspicious death".

Vltchek and his wife traveled to Istanbul from the Black Sea province of Samsun with a rented and chauffeured car.

When they came in front of the hotel they would stay at around 5.30 a.m., his wife tried to wake Vltchek up but he didn't respond, according to the report. She then called medical teams to the scene and they confirmed that Vltchek died.

Philosopher, novelist, filmmaker, investigative journalist, poet, playwright, and photographer, Vltchek is a revolutionary, internationalist and globetrotter who fights against Western Imperialism and the Western regime imposed on the world.

He believed that the only "crime" of Iran is to help reconstruction of Syria and support of Palestine, the US' enmity with Iran had nothing to do with Iran itself, and the Iranian people are very brave and courageous.

Vltchek has always used to say:” I love Iran, I love Tehran. I love Iranian cinema, I love Iranian people, they are polite and educated people. I love the scholars in this country. I do not want anything bad to happen to them.”

He believed that Iran, like China, is one of the oldest countries in the world and has the ability to build and develop its own economic and social system.

He believed that Iran is quite a successful country. Despite the intimidation and restrictions imposed by the West, it is on the verge of "transcendent human progress" as defined by the United Nations Development Program. Iran is also higher than countries like Ukraine, Colombia and Thailand that are popular in the West.

 “All the countries that resist and stand against the imperialist countries and the occupying Zionist regime are attacked by terrorism and many actions are taken against them. Iran is the target of terrorist attacks and oppressive sanctions due to its progress,” he said.

In an interview, he stated that he doubted if Iran being destroyed, humanity could survive. He covered dozens of war zones and conflicts from Iraq and Peru to Sri Lanka, Bosnia, Rwanda, Syria, DR Congo and Timor Leste.

His latest books are Revolutionary Optimism, Western Nihilism, The Great October Socialist Revolution, Exposing Lies of the Empire, Fighting Against Western Imperialism and On Western Terrorism: From Hiroshima to Drone Warfare with Noam Chomsky.

Aurora and Point of No Return are his major works of fiction, written in English. Nalezeny, is his novel written in Czech. Other works include a book of political non-fiction Western Terror: From Potosi to Baghdad and Indonesia: Archipelago of Fear, Exile (with Pramoedya Ananta Toer, and Rossie Indira), Oceania – Neocolonialism, Nukes & Bones, The World Order and Revolution! - Essays from the Resistance (co-written with Christopher Black and Peter Koenig), and Liberation Lit (edited with Tony Christini).

Plays: ‘Ghosts of Valparaiso’ and ‘Conversations with James’ is his book of plays/drama.

He is a member of the Advisory Committee of the Brussels Tribunal.

Investigative work of Vltchek appears in countless publications worldwide.

Vltchek has produced and directed several documentary films for left-wing South American television network teleSUR. They deal with diverse topics, from Turkey/Syria to Okinawa, Kenya, Egypt and Indonesia, but all of them are exposing the effects of Western imperialism on the Planet.  His feature documentary film 'Rwanda Gambit' is being broadcasted by Press TV, and it aims at reversing official narrative on 1994 genocide, exposing the Rwandan and Ugandan plunder of DR Congo on behalf of Western imperialism. He produced the feature length documentary film about the Indonesian massacres in 1965 'Terlena – Breaking of The Nation', as well as the film about the brutal camp for Somali refugees, Dadaab in Kenya: 'One Flew Over Dadaab'. His Japanese crew filmed his lengthy discussion with Noam Chomsky on the state of the world, which is presently being made into a film.

He appeared on television and radio shows, including those broadcast by France RT, China Radio International, the Voice of Russia, Press TV, CCTV, Ulusal Kanal (Turkey), Al-Mayadeen (Pan-Arabic network), Radio Pacifika, Radio Cape, among others. Vltchek was interviewed by publications including People's Daily, China Daily and Tehran Times.

News ID 192350

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