dogu-turkistan-sempozyumu

FREEEAST TURKISTAN SYMPOSIUMthe Hindu Kush Mountains in Afghanistan to the south. East Turkistan, whichhas been struggling for independence since the middle of the 19 th century, wascalled the Xingjian Uyghur Autonomous Region by the Mao administration afterthe Communist Party took over the government of China in 1949. The Chineseadministration has provided the five autonomous regions in Chinese territory-in which a total of 56 different ethnic groups live- the rights to use and developtheir own languages and alphabets, to protect and manage their natural resourcesin the region; in addition, all Chinese citizens are given the right to believe or notbelieve in any given faith and women in rural areas have the right to have threechildren. Nevertheless, all of these rights are violated in East Turkistan.Oppression, which was first observed in the field of religion, due to thedominant ideology, was later followed by the closure of religious schools and thearrest and annihilation of religious people, on the pretext that they were enemiesof the revolution. This was also followed by the hanging of Chinese flags andpictures of Mao on the walls of mosques. Then, migration began to be encouragedfrom other parts of China into East Turkistan. The Chinese population, whichwas only around 3% in the region in 1949, grew to 50% in the first decade of thenew millennium. 54% of the population in East Turkistan, which is estimated tobe around 30 million today, is composed of Uyghur and Kazakh Turks, while theremaining part is composed of Chinese people. Although the central governmentof China appointed Uyghur governors to East Turkistan, this has not been enoughto solve all the problems.Recently this tension has significantly increased. The administration hasattempted to eliminate the historical artefacts in Urumchi and Kashgar. Theold town, including a historical court, fountains and religious schools, wasdestroyed 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 takento the eastern parts of China in groups. It has been declared tha the Chinesegovernment has been transferring Uyghur girls to the inner parts of China toemploy them in factories by force since 2006. According to the official statementsof the Chinese government, the administration provides young Uyghur girls wholive in underdeveloped East Turkistan -where employment opportunities arescarce- with employment opportunities in southern parts of China. Women in358