dogu-turkistan-sempozyumu

FREEEAST TURKISTAN SYMPOSIUMand to reject the Chinese culture. Egypt, Turkey and the Kingdom ofSaudi Arabia are appropriate countries to provide such education.Now, with your permission, let us examine what one Uyghur refugee wrotein a letter. “Because of the violent practices and brutal treatment inflicted on ourpeople by the Chinese government, I have fled from East Turkistan. How can aUyghur youngster return to his or her country? They will either be put into prisonon fictitious accusations or be tried and hung based on groundless claims. To seeone’s future as being away from one’s homeland is a serious dilemma for all theUyghur people.”More than one million Uyghur people live abroad. They have serious concernsabout becoming separated from their relatives in East Turkistan. Hundreds ofUyghur people have sought asylum in many European countries; most of themhave been rejected. Therefore, they live under a never-ending threat and facethe fear of deportation back to China. Some of them have been able to acquirecitizenship in the country to which they immigrated. However, even this doesnot prevent them from being put into prison or killed if they go back to theirhomeland to visit relatives.Threats faced by Uyghur refugeesThe disintegration of the Soviet Union in 1991 was a turning point in thehistory of political movements for the Uyghur people in exile. The emergenceof five independent states in West Turkistan refreshed the hopes of the Uyghurpeople concerning their claims to freedom, democracy and human rights, andtheir hopes for a declaration of independence. It increased the activities of theTurkistan Foundations in Europe and America, and these foundations started topromote their cause to human rights organizations and international society. Thistriggered increased pressure against the Uyghur people both within and withoutTurkistan. Such pressures include:1. Pressures on the people of Turkistan by neighboring countriesAs the international society focused on the anti-terrorist campaigns after 9/11,the war on terror declared by the United States provided a unique opportunity for410