dogu-turkistan-sempozyumu

Eastern Turkistan after the Cold War and 9/11 A Critical Study of the Chinese Theses and Policies/ Dr Akram Hicazisafety valve of national unity after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the collapseof the ideological system or the depletion of their real effects on China.China, having experienced many internal dynastic conflicts throughouthistory, is not far from total disintegration and returning to a time of dynasticconflict. Therefore, it is not odd that the Chinese authorities describe the protestsof the Uyghur people in Turkistan as efforts of “separatism and separatists”. Again,for the same reason it is not strange that official statements and the comments ofauthorities emphasis the following notions: “China’s Unity... National Integrity...One Nation... Strong State... One State... National Cooperation... Preservationof Country Unity... Tolerance and Stability... Development... Advancement...Modernity...” They do not use notions that are opposed to those mentioned above:“Discrimination... Radicalism... Terrorism... Devastation... Obscurantism...” Thefact is that China sees the Turkistan issue as an internal affair, like Chechnya inRussia; we can see this in the expression of an official spokesman of the Chineseforeign affairs department, Chen Gang, who became deeply concerned whenriots erupted in Urumqi on 05.07.2009. However, this time, the protests wereonly against discrimination in businesses and the discrimination against thelocal people, where they were relegated to second or third class citizens. Afterthe incidents and after a meeting with high-level party officials, in a broadcaston Chinese television in 8.7.2009 the Chinese president, Hu Jintao, threatened“heavy penalties, as stated in the law, for those who were involved in the clashes.”The Chinese president was worried by the violence of these events and wasconcerned that they could spread to other regions outside Urumqi and Kashgaria;he made a clear reference to this: “It is very important and an urgent task thatsocial stability in the Xinjiang region, where there are rich energy resources, beinsured,” 22 and this situation was a “matter of life and death” 23 for the ChineseCommunist party leader in Turkistan.It is demanded by justice that it be made clear that the Turkistani peoplecannot be held responsible for China’s deranged mind. If it is the right of theUyghur people to separate from China and to desire independence, then it isfoolish for Han ethnic Chinese to believe that the Uyghur people should bearthe burden of China’s union at the expense of their beliefs, territory, civilization,lives and property, or that the Uyghur people should simply accept the despicableproposal of the Chinese. Again, the Chinese are very aware that any proposals329