dogu-turkistan-sempozyumu

FREEEAST TURKISTAN SYMPOSIUMnecessary loan to carry out the occupation from the British banks in Beijing. 35 Hewas also provided with food and equipment by the office of the Russian governorgeneralin Turkistan. Russia supplied the grains, which were a vital requirementfor the troops. 36 While General Tso was making these preparations, activitiesconcerning the future of Kashgar were continuing in the British, Russian andChinese capitals. Tso, who attacked in late 1876, first captured Urumchi and thenTurfan in the summer of 1877. Yakub Bey, commanding the central forces ofthe army and gradually making inroads against the occupational forces, becamesuddenly ill and passed away in a matter of hours, quite unexpectedly. 37After Yakub Khan had passed away, his sons and commanders, despite havingobserved that in Western Turkistan the Russians had won the battle as a resultof internal conflicts and disagreements among the Turks, fell into disagreementand conflict among themselves. Yakub Beg had been fighting against the Chinesetroops just before he died. After his death, his sons and commanders disagreedand fell into conflict with one another, thus using up all their energy and thesoldiers of Kashgar, just when the Chinese troops were mounting an attack. TheChinese troops easily captured Eastern Turkistan in early 1878. Major IsmailHakkı Beg states the following concerning the hostility and lack of trust, whichwas taken advantage of by the Russian, British and Chinese spies who had beenplaced within Turkistan society:“The Muslim people in Asia need centuries in order to restore their moralfiber. Not only is it impossible for them to carry out their own tasks themselveswhen there is such a conflict of nations, it also seems equally impossible for themto save themselves without being manipulated by the machinations of one of theother parties.” 38Republics in Eastern TurkistanAfter Eastern Turkistan was re-occupied by the Chinese in 1878, the regionbecame a province of China; this situation lasted until 1911, when the Chinesedynasty collapsed and was replaced by the People’s Republic. The Chinesegovernor-generals, who benefited from the chaos in Eastern Turkistan, wantedto separate from the central Chinese administration and to become emperors ofEastern Turkistan. Muslim people suffered from severe oppression during the era302