dogu-turkistan-sempozyumu

FREEEAST TURKISTAN SYMPOSIUMinformative documentary in response to increasing reactions from Turkey and therest of the world. Many historical artefacts, including the Hanlık Madrasah, whichwas one of the greatest madrasahs of the Muslim World, have been demolished todate and they have been replaced by massive skyscrapers. In the informative movieprepared by the Chinese government for propaganda purposes, Chinese projectengineers explain that the dilapidated earth-made houses in the Old Town hadto be demolished. In the movie, called “Renovation and Conservation of the OldCity of Kashgar”, prepared by the consulate general of China in Istanbul, there isno mention as to why these buildings have been thus neglected, or what kind ofobstacles Uyghur people meet when trying to re-construct their houses, or howthe lack of education and employment discrimination against Uyghur people hasresulted in the underdevelopment in the region. 46Developments after July 5 and the current situation in the regionVarious insurgences and riots have taken place in the region due to thediscriminative policies and oppression of the Chinese government againstUyghur Turks. The “Incidents of July 5”, which broke out in 2009, are just anothermanifestation of this situation. Official records of the Chinese government notethat the cause of the incidents is the death of two Uyghur Turks in a conflict thattook place in the factory in June. However, the underlying causes are elaboratedon in both Turkish and American public opinions. 47 Uyghur Turks waited for theChinese government to evaluate the massacre in the factory in a just and unbiasedmanner. However, China favoured their fellow Chinese and attempted to coverup the matter. As a direct result, a group of five to ten thousand Uyghur people,joined by 2,000 Uyghur Turks from Kashgar, held a demonstration to protest thefactory massacre and to demand justice in Urumchi. They peacefully demandedthat the Chinese government investigate the issue and punish the criminals. TheChinese police and soldiers responded to this civil action with violence, killingthree people -two girls and a young man- who were holding a sit in in front of thegroup, by shooting at their heads; this was done in order to frighten and disperseall the protestors. Marching against the crowd with their weapons ready panicensued from the shooting, and the Chinese police dispersed the crowd by killingor injuring dozens of Uyghur Turks. Such a violent attitude also added fuel to theprevious incidents. Uyghur Turks gathered from different districts of Urumchi to364