East Turkistan
East Turkistan is located in heart of Asia and is the historical homeland of the Uyghurs and other Turkic Central Asian people. East Turkistan has effectively been occupied by China since December 22, 1949. Its borders several countries such as Russia, Kazakhstan, India, Tibet, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Mongolia. East Turkistan is about a sixth of the total area of China with a surface area of 1,828,418 km2, which is about 2.5 times the size of Texas.
The capital city is Urumchi. The other main cities are Kashghar, Khotan, Atush, Aksu, Qumul, Turpan, Ghulja, Qarimay, Altay, chochek.
Major Rivers are Tarim, Ertish (Irtysh in Kazakhstan and Russia), Illi, Konchi (Kaidu), Ulungur (Bulgan in Mongilia), Qaraqash, Yarkand (also known as Zarafshan), and Manas.
Administration:
Under Chinese rule, East Turkistan is divided into the following administrative units: a) Uyghur Autonomous Region, b) Subei Mongol Autonomous County, Aksai Kazakh Autonomous County, Dunhuang (Dukhan) City, and Guazhou County in Gansu Province, c) Lenghu Administrative Zone , and the western portion of Magnai Administrative Zone in Qinghai Province.
Population:
China and its Occupation Forces stated that the total Turkic population of East Turkistan is 13.5 million as of 2015. However, other sources estimate that the total Turkic population of East Turkistan is anywhere from 35 to 40 million (with the majority being Uyghurs, the other Turkic populations include the Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Uzbek, and Tatars.
Native Wildlife:
Caspian tiger (now extinct), Eurasian lynx, Snow leopard, Eurasian gray wolf, sable, wolverine, Prezwalski's horse, Altai elk (elk), Tengri Tagh elk (elk), Bactrian deer, Yarkand deer, Central Asian red deer, Saiga antelope , Marco Polo Sheep, Yak, Bactrian camel, Eurasian beaver, Eurasian red squirrel, Dzungarian hamster, Yarkand hare, Eurasian water vole, Eurasian spoonbill, Central Asian salamander, Big-head schizothoracin, and the Lenok (Asiatic trout).
Natural Resources:
Land, biological resources, petroleum, natural gas, gold, silver, coal, uranium, copper, nickel, lead, zinc, asbestos, sylvite, limestone, gems, and jade. It has a third of China's natural gas and oil reserves, and 40% of coal reserves. East Turkistan also produces 60% of cotton in China.
A Bit of History…
The ethnonym “Uyghur” can be traced back to the ancient Uyghurs - one of the various Turkic tribes who built the Uyghur Khanate (Kingdom) (744-840 AD) stretched from the Caspian Sea to the Mongolian Steppe. With the Islamization of Central Asia, the whole tribal or ethnic names including the ethnonym “Uyghur” had been submerged by a pan-Islamic identity that had unified all different groups under one overarching and generic Muslim identity. The Uyghurs established Qochu Uyghur Kingdom (843-1209) in Turpan region and Kara-Khanid Khanate (840-1212) in Kashgar of East Turkestan and all converted to Islam in the following centuries. These two Khanates became the subjects of the Mongol empire in the 13th century and underwent several Turko-Mongolian dynasties that all would embrace Islam in the subsequent centuries.
1705 : The Turkic State of Yarkent (Yarkent Khanate) which governed over East Turkistan and large parts of Central Asia is abolished after Junggar (Mongol) invasion of East Turkistan (what is currently known as the Junggar Basin). [1]
1705-1759 : southern East Turkistan (Tarim Basin) is governed by the Khojas and northern East Turkistan (Junggar Basin & Kengsu) is governed by the Junggars. [2]
1759 : The Manchu Qing Empire launches an invasion and conquers East Turkistan, turning it into a vassal state. [3]
1759-1862 : The Turkic peoples of East Turkistan rebelled some 42 times against the Manchu Qing Empire. [4]
1863-1864 : The Turkic peoples of East Turkistan rebel against the Manchu Qing Empire under the leadership of Yaqub Beg. Yaqub Beg expels the Manchus and declares total independence and reign over East Turkistan. [5]
1865-1877 : East Turkistan's independence as Kashgaria is recognized by the British Empire, Russian Empire, and the Ottoman Empire. East Turkistan maintains its total independence under the leadership of Yaqub Beg until the Manchu Qing invasion in 1877. [6]
1884 : The Manchu Qing Empire gains total control over East Turkistan and officially incorporates into the Manchu Qing Empire as “Xinjiang” which translates as 'New Territory' in the Chinese language. [7]
1884 - 1911 : East Turkistan is governed by the Manchu Qing Empire. [8]
1911 : The Chinese revolution overthrows the Manchu Qing Empire. [9]
1911-1931 : Parts of East Turkistan is ruled by Uyghur & Turkic warlords and other parts are ruled by Chinese warlords under the influence of the Chinese Nationalists (Guomindang). [10]
1931 : Uyghurs revolt against Chinese rule in Qumul and rebellion spreads all across East Turkistan. [11]
1931-1933 : Uyghurs revolt in southern East Turkistan and declare an independent government in Khotan. [12]
1933 : Uyghurs and other Turkic peoples join together in Kashgar to declare total independence of all of East Turkistan from Chinese rule and establish the First East Turkistan Republic on November 12, 1933. [13]
1934 : East Turkistan loses its independence after the First East Turkistan Republic is dissolved on April 16, 1934 following Soviet intervention and Chinese invasion led by Chinese Muslims (Huis) under the Chinese Nationalists (Guomindang). [14]
1934 - 1944 : East Turkistan is ruled by the Chinese warlord Sheng Shicai, during his reign over 200,000 Uyghurs and other Turkic peoples are brutally killed. [15]
1937 : Military officers of the 6th Uyghur Division revolt against Chinese rule once again, only to be brutally massacred after Soviet intervention. [16]
1944 : Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, Tatars, and Uzbeks join together and rebel against Chinese rule and re-establish an independent state of East Turkistan. Second East Turkistan Republic (ETR) is declared in Ghulja on November 12, 1944. [17]
1945 : The ETR government announced at 9-point declaration on January 5, 1945 re-affirming the ETR as an independent secular republic which embraces democracy and rejects totalitarianism. [18]
1949 : August 27 - The charismatic leaders of the ETR: President Exmetjan Qasimi, Interior Minister Abdulkerim Abbas, General of the Armed Forces Delilqan Sugarbay, Deputy Commander in Chief Ishaq Beg and 7 others are executed by Stalin for refusing to dissolve the East Turkistan Republic and end the independence of East Turkistan. [19]
October - Mao's People's Liberation Army begins its invasion East Turkistan with the support of the Soviet Union in October 12, 1949. [20]
December - The East Turkistan National Army was merged into the People's Liberation Army as the Fifth Army. The East Turkistan Republic was officially abolished on December 22, 1949, ending East Turkistan's independence and starting Chinese Communist occupation. [21]
1950 : Stalin and Mao sign the Sino-Soviet Treaty of Friendship, Alliance and Mutual Assistance on February 14, 1950 which promises the Soviet Union economic concessions in exchange for Soviet support of Chinese rule in East Turkistan. [22]
1951: The Kazakh leader Osman Batur who continued to lead the people of East Turkistan to struggle against Chinese Communist occupation is captured and executed on April 29, 1951. [23]
1951 -1959 : During this period over 14 major armed rebellions calling for the restoration of an independent East Turkistan occurred against Chinese rule. The largest armed rebellion took place in Khotan from December 28th -31st, 1954. [24]
1954 : Mao transfer hundreds of thousands of demobilized Chinese soldiers and their families into Eastern Turkistan and creates the Bingtuan (Chinese Paramilitary) force to colonize and control East Turkistan. [25]
1955 : On October 1, 1955 the People's Republic of China designates East Turkistan as the so called “Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region”. [26]
1962 : Tens of thousands of people in Ghulja (Illi region) riot against the Chinese rule on May 29 th , leading to the mass exodus of nearly 100,000 Uyghurs and Kazakhs into the Soviet Union (present day Kazakhstan). A resulting demonstration in Ghulja was met with open fire by the PLA, sparking further protests and mass defections.. [27]
1966-76: The Cultural Revolution followed, again imposed by Chinese officials in East Turkistan and throughout the country. Ethnic policy in East Turkistan became more openly assimilationist. Public Islamic practice and schooling became increasingly difficult. The party took over mosques as offices and destroyed religious texts. The revolution left many people dead and displaced many people to neighbouring countries.
1964 : On 16 October 1964, the People's Republic of China conducted its first nuclear test in Lop Nur, East Turkistan, making it the fifth nuclear-armed state after the United States, the Soviet Union, Britain and France. [28] From 1964 - 1996 China has tested over 46 nuclear tests. The nuclear tests killed over 800,000 peoples in East Turkistan and left millions exposed to radiation which resulted in various cancerous diseases. [29]
1968 : The East Turkistan People's Revolutionary Party (ETPRP) was founded in February 1968 with the intention of restoring East Turkistan's independence, it had central offices and branches offices in every city across Eastern Turkistan and issued over 50 publications before it was disbanded. [30]
1969 : On August 20, 1969 several members of the ETPRP led by Ahunov set out near the Soviet border (present day Kyrgyzstan) to establish a base of operations to wage guerrilla warfare against Chinese forces, it was leaked and the ETPRP was forced to go underground. [31]
1981 : On May 27th, 1981 an armed uprising against Chinese rule erupts in Kashgar's Payzawat county. The armed uprising prompted Chinese General Wang Zhen to take hardline approaches to crush any signs of resistance. [32]
1985 : On December 12th dozens of peaceful demonstrations against nuclear testing, forced abortion, and migration of Chinese settlers occurred across East Turkistan, with the largest being a student led protest in Urumchi in which over 20,000 people participated. The demonstrations were violently suppressed by Chinese occupation forces resulting in hundreds of dead and thousands arrested. [33]
1988 : On June 15th, thousands of students in Urumchi stage a peaceful demonstration that was brutally massacred by Chinese occupation forces. [34]
1990 : On April 5th a peaceful demonstration against Chinese government forced abortion and colonization policies was brutally suppressed leading to an armed uprising to restore East Turkistan's independence in Baren township of Akto County in southern East Turkistan. Thousands of innocent people are killed as Chinese occupation forces brutally crush the uprising by April 11th. [35]
1995 : On July 7th, 1995 hundreds of people in Khotan demonstrate against Chinese rule in East Turkistan and Chinese occupation forces opened fire which led to rioting and hundreds were killed. [36]
1997 : Thousands of people demonstrate in Ghulja during February 5th in response to Chinese authorities’ restrictions against Uyghur culture and the execution of over 30 activists. Chinese occupation forces brutally massacre the peaceful protestors and kill over 100 protesters and arrest over 1,600 by February 6th. [37]
2002 : China begins to justify its repressive colonial policies of genocide in East Turkistan under the guise of “combating against terrorism”. [38]
2009 : Thousands of people led by students in Urumchi stage a peaceful demonstration against the brutal massacre of Uyghur workers in a Chinese factory in Shaoguan, Guandong. The demonstration is brutally suppressed and tens of thousands of Uyghurs are killed or forcibly disappeared across East Turkistan. [39]
2014: Some 3,000 to 5,000 people in Yarkent township in southern East Turkistan are brutally massacred by Chinese occupation forces. [40]
2015 : China passes controversial counter-terrorism law to further legitimize its suppression of expressions of Turkic & Islamic identity in East Turkistan. [41]
2017 : China uses its economic leverage to persuade numerous countries such as Egypt to detain and deport all East Turkistanis / Uyghurs to China where they are subsequently imprisoned or sent to concentration camps. [42]
2018 : On August 10th, the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination determined that over 3 million people (mostly Uyghurs) are being detained in “political re-education” and “counter-extremism” concentration camps across East Turkistan. [43]
2019 : On May 3, 2019, the United States Department of Defense officially used the term 'Concentration Camps' to refer to China '' mass internment camps in Occupied East Turkistan. DOD Assistant Secretary Randall Schriver also stated that the number of people in concentration camps might be closer to 3 million. [44]
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National Emblem of East Turkistan
The National Emblem was designed by East Turkistan Independence Association and was unanimously accepted by the Parliament and Ministers of the Republic of East Turkistan on November 12, 1933. It continues to be used and is unanimously accepted by all East Turkistan and Uyghur organizations as the National Emblem of East Turkistan.
The 18 points that surround the crescent refers to the 9 Uyghur Tribes and the 9 Oghuz Tribes that inhabit East Turkistan.
The upward facing crescent symbolizes happiness, joy, and the revival of East Turkistan and its people.
The three stars above the calligraphic monogram represent the three prominent states that were established in East Turkistan: (from left to right) the Kök Türk Khaganate (552-744), the Uyghur Khaganate (744-840), and the Kara-Khanid Khanate (840-1212).
National Flag of East Turkistan
Historical Background
During the start of the 20th century, a Uyghur led national awakening movement began to take shape in East Turkistan which sought to restore the independence of East Turkistan and liberate it from Chinese occupation. After several years of waging a War of National Liberation, this goal was partially realized on November 12, 1933 with the establishment of the Republic of East Turkistan (November 12, 1933- April 16, 1934), in Kashgar. It was on the eve of November 11, 1933 that the sixteen ministers of the RET would unanimously accept the Kök Bayraq (Blue Flag), which had been proposed several months earlier by the East Turkistan Independence Association (ETIA), as the national flag of East Turkistan.
The Kök Bayraq [Blue Flag] was also used as the National Flag of the East Turkistan Republic (November 12, 1944 - December 22, 1949). Since the occupation of East Turkistan by the People's Republic of China in 1949, the flag has been banned by Chinese occupational forces. It continues to remain as symbol of East Turkistan independence and is used and accepted unanimously by all East Turkistan and Uyghur organizations across the globe.
Explanation Of The Symbolism Of East Turkistan's National Flag
• The blue color (background) is taken from the color of the sky and is a predominant color in Turkic culture that represents the sky, essentially the blue represents Turks.
• The blue color also comes from the flag of Köktürk Khaganate (Empire) and the color has also been found on the flags of numerous Turkic empires and nation states.
• The crescent represents the notion of being victorious (undefeatable) and is not necessarily an Islamic symbol, in-fact it was the Turks that introduced the crescent into the Islamic world.
• The star represents the Turkic nation, it is also found on the flag of the White Hun (Hephthalite) Empire and various other Turkic empires and states.
• It should also be noted that this Blue Flag was initially earned with the blood of over 250,000 martyrs who died in the path of liberation and independence for East Turkistan from Chinese occupation.
• The blue flag is the symbol of national independence and freedom for the people of East Turkistan
National Anthem of East Turkistan
Memeteli Tewfik
(1901-1937)
The National Anthem of East Turkistan, Qurtulush Yolida [On the Path to Salvation] , was a poem written by Memet Ali Tewfiq in 1933 and was first sung by the East Turkistani people as the official National Anthem of East Turkistan on November 12, 1933.
قۇرتۇلۇش يولىدا
قۇرتۇلۇش يولىدا سۇدەك ئاقتى بىزنىڭ قانىمىز
سەن ئۈچۈن ئەي يۇرتىمىز بولسۇن پىدا بۇ جانىمىز.
قان كىچىپ ھەم جان بىرىپ ئاخىر قۇتۇلدۇردۇق سىنى ،
قەلبىمىزدە قۇتۇلۇشقا بار ئىدى ئىمانىمىز.
يۇرتۇمۇز بىز يۈز-كۆزۈڭنى قان بىلەن پاكىزلىدۇق,
ئۆرلىگەن يالقۇن بىلەن پاقلاندى بەلكى نامىمىز
يار ھەمدەم بولدى بىزنىڭ ھىممىتىمىز سەن ئۈچۈن,
شاۋنۇ شۆخرەتلىك ئىدى ھىممەت بىلەن ئەجدادىمىز
ئۆچمەيدۇ تارىخ بەتىدىن ئاتىلارنىڭ جەڭلىرى
نەسلى قالدى جەڭگىۋار بىز ئۇنىڭ ئەۋلادى بىز
چىقتى جان ھەم ئاقتى قان دۈشمەندىن بولدى ئەل ئامان
ياشىسۇن, مىڭ ياشىسۇن, پارلانسۇن ئەي ئىستىكبالىمىز
On the Path of Salvation
Our blood flowed like water on the path of salvation
For your oh our Homeland, may our lives be a sacrifice.
By giving our blood and lives we finally saved you,
We had the faith in hearts for your salvation.
Oh, our Homeland, we cleansed your face and eyes with blood,
With the rising flame, our name has been cleansed
Our efforts became a friend / lover to you
Broad and Famous with Effort were our Ancestors
Our forefathers' battles will not be erased from the pages of history
Their offspring are left warriors, we are their descendants.
We gave our lives, spilled our blood and had our revenge from the enemy
Long live, for eternity, may our future shine.
