dogu-turkistan-sempozyumu

FREEEAST TURKISTAN SYMPOSIUMAlthough Western Turkistan today, after the collapse of the Soviet Union,is a geographical region in which an independent Turkic republic has beendeclared, Chinese occupation is still the case in Eastern Turkistan. The increasingeconomic and political power of China during the globalization process indicatesthat this occupation will continue. Based on past experiences, the Chineseadministration plans to settle the Han people in this region, thus changing theethnic structure into one that will not allow the Turks to be the hegemonic powerin the region any longer. The Chinese administration is making efforts to justifythis resettlement policy with excuses of the low population in Eastern Turkistanvis-à-vis the unemployment and high population density in other parts of China;yet young men and women from Eastern Turkistan are forced to migrate to innerregions of China to find employment. It was the rapes of young women who hadbeen forced to migrate from Eastern Turkistan that gave rise to the events in thesummer of 2009.Although Great Britain, the leading country in the colonial period, was oftenin conflict with Russia and China over regional issues, she never defended theindependence of the people of either Eastern or Western Turkistan; rather shealways supported the division of the region between Russia and China. Britainseemingly supported the independence of the Turks during both the tsaristoccupations of Western Turkistan and during the civil war after the tsarist regimecollapsed; however, Britain immediately offered support to Russia to retake theregion once an opportunity appeared. Similarly, Britain followed pioneeringpolicies to ensure that Eastern Turkistan remained under Chinese administrationand did not become independent. The American policy for Eastern Turkistan,which is the largest trade partner of China, is fairly unconvincing.The Beijing administration, which implements oppressive policies aswell as education, culture and social policies that support the Sinicization ofEastern Turkistan, policies that have created two different classes - the Turksand the Chinese in Eastern Turkistan - should take a lesson from history; thatis, oppression can never last forever and any administration that relies uponoppression, injustice, discrimination and/or torture shall inevitably collapse, evenif an external threat does not exist. The Soviet administration itself experiencedthis fact in Western Turkistan.304