dogu-turkistan-sempozyumu

FREE
EAST TURKISTAN SYMPOSIUM
the Hindu Kush Mountains in Afghanistan to the south. East Turkistan, which
has been struggling for independence since the middle of the 19 th century, was
called the Xingjian Uyghur Autonomous Region by the Mao administration after
the Communist Party took over the government of China in 1949. The Chinese
administration has provided the five autonomous regions in Chinese territory
-in which a total of 56 different ethnic groups live- the rights to use and develop
their own languages and alphabets, to protect and manage their natural resources
in the region; in addition, all Chinese citizens are given the right to believe or not
believe in any given faith and women in rural areas have the right to have three
children. Nevertheless, all of these rights are violated in East Turkistan.
Oppression, which was first observed in the field of religion, due to the
dominant ideology, was later followed by the closure of religious schools and the
arrest and annihilation of religious people, on the pretext that they were enemies
of the revolution. This was also followed by the hanging of Chinese flags and
pictures of Mao on the walls of mosques. Then, migration began to be encouraged
from other parts of China into East Turkistan. The Chinese population, which
was only around 3% in the region in 1949, grew to 50% in the first decade of the
new millennium. 54% of the population in East Turkistan, which is estimated to
be around 30 million today, is composed of Uyghur and Kazakh Turks, while the
remaining part is composed of Chinese people. Although the central government
of China appointed Uyghur governors to East Turkistan, this has not been enough
to solve all the problems.
Recently this tension has significantly increased. The administration has
attempted to eliminate the historical artefacts in Urumchi and Kashgar. The
old town, including a historical court, fountains and religious schools, was
destroyed and replaced by modern buildings in Urumchi. The Hanlik Madrasah,
where Mahmud of Kashgar, one of the greatest scholars in the Turkish World,
received his education, was demolished. In addition, Uyghur girls have been taken
to the eastern parts of China in groups. It has been declared tha the Chinese
government has been transferring Uyghur girls to the inner parts of China to
employ them in factories by force since 2006. According to the official statements
of the Chinese government, the administration provides young Uyghur girls who
live in underdeveloped East Turkistan -where employment opportunities are
scarce- with employment opportunities in southern parts of China. Women in
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