dogu-turkistan-sempozyumu

FREEEAST TURKISTAN SYMPOSIUMin 1873. 26 Seyyid Yakub also verbally conveyed the situation and needs of hiscountry, in particular their demand for weapons and military training. The sultanordered the Ottoman government to discuss the issue and the demand for helpand allegiance was accepted. 27 However, during the years that Yakub Beg askedthe Ottomans for help, the Ottoman Empire was preoccupied with domestic andinternational problems, some of which stemmed from the embassy of Ignatiev inIstanbul, who was planning to occupy Turkistan. Later, coins were minted and asermon (khutba) was delivered in the name of the Ottoman sultan. 28The allegiance of Yakub Beg with the Ottomans and his demand for militaryexperts, weapons and people to train in the use of these weapons was due tothe fact that he could no longer receive any positive response to his overtures offriendship with Russia and that Russia had started to pose an immediate threatto Eastern Turkistan with the construction of a castle by the Naryn River. In themeantime, trade relations with the British gradually improved and reached a peakin 1876. The British policy, which was summarized by Lord Lytton as: “Theline that we shall adopt in defining our area of political influence area shouldbe in keeping with the geographical lines, which will be actively maintained asnecessary,” sealed the fate of the Kashgar State. The loving glances exchangedbetween Britain and Russia were based on their hidden agendas to sustain theGreat Game. 29The basic element of the Great Game was not China or Russia, who werede facto enemies of the Kashgar State; the country could be defended if thesetwo states were opposed. The basic element here was British policy and therepresentatives who appeared to be friends, and trade agreements with merchantsand trade attaches, who were in reality spies to detect the strategic points andweaknesses of the country. Bedevlet Yakub Khan made great efforts to changeBritish policy, which was seemingly friendly, but in fact was of a hostile nature.However, he detected that the British were set against the Turks and that theywould support any Chinese forces that might attack Kashgar; he tried his bestto defend his country. The US ambassador to St. Petersburg, Mr. Schuyler, notesthat Russia was persuaded that it would serve Russian interests if the KashgarState was destroyed and the region were left to Chinese control:“In Russia, the idea of helping the Chinese re-occupy Kashgar or even to300