dogu-turkistan-sempozyumu

FREEEAST TURKISTAN SYMPOSIUMChinese empire for this region, and it remained “newly-conquered lands”. Thename, administration, and the method and implementation of authority over thepeople of the region have all been Sinicized. Chinese authorities have alwaysenjoyed unlimited power due to their military and economic advantages. Even therules of daily life are completely defined by the Chinese. In short, East Turkistanhas lost not only her name, but also her identity and rights, and thus her libertiesfor an indefinite period; this process started in 1884, and as a result East Turkistanhas become an internalized colony -supposedly autonomous- of an oppressiveadministration. Short periods of partial freedom and independence, gained byadministrations such as the Islamic Republic of East Turkistan with never-endingstruggles, have unfortunately, not lasted long. Consequently, the Uyghur Region,which covers one-sixth (1,828,418 km²) of the entire area of China, has sufferedthe most severe oppression of the three autonomous regions of China, namelyUyghur, Tibet and Inner Mongolia. This oppression is inflicted by anothernation that has nothing in common with East Turkistan in terms of ethnicity,language, religion, customs, traditions or culture. The Uyghur nation, which isunder occupation, is paying the highest cost of all ethnic regions in China, acountry that is trying to find a place in the new world order through economicdevelopment by supplying a cheap labour force; this is the Chinese attempt to bea super power.The reason why the Uyghur people are suffering from Chinese oppressionmore than all the peoples in the three autonomous regions (Uyghur, Tibet andInner Mongolia) is due to the weakness of the Uyghur people’s internationalalliances and the lack of a protector or a supporter. The fact that Mongolia is amodest and passive state in terms of international politics and that the Mongolkhans ruled for a long time in the Chinese court has resulted in a friendshipbetween the Mongols and the Chinese. Also, the Chinese government treatsTibet differently due to the international prestige of the Dalai Lama.The population of the People’s Republic of China, which is rapidly approachingthe apex of economic development, is “approximately” 1.3 billion. Here we say“approximately” because the only way to obtain data and information concerningthe People’s Republic of China is to make estimates. Given this estimatedpopulation and, using official data, one can ascertain that the Muslim population inthe People’s Republic of China is about 10 million Uyghur people in the Xingjian436