dogu-turkistan-sempozyumu

The Role of the International Community in East Turkestan / Prof Dru C. GladneyFor China’s Muslims, the two questions raised above struck to the heart oftheir ethnoreligious identity: should they die for the nation? Or should theysupport terror in the name of religion and heed the call of jihadist Islam? Withthe sequence of events over the last 10 years in Xinjiang, and especially the riotsof July 5, 2009, not to mention the on-going presence of Osama bin Laden inneighboring Afghanistan/Pakistan (most likely hiding in the mountainous areasbordering China), these questions are increasingly demanding responses.As part of China’s continuing efforts to maintain national unity andpolice separatist movements at home and abroad, on December 14, 2003, forthe first time in its history, China’s Ministry of Public Security released a listof four organizations and 11 individuals that they deemed to be terrorists. Thislist included the Eastern Turkistan Islamic Movement (ETIM), which wasidentified as an international terrorist organization by the United Nations in 2002after Chinese and US prompting, as well as the Eastern Turkistan LiberationOrganization (ETLO), the World Uygur Youth Congress (WUYC) and theEastern Turkistan Information Center (ETIC). The 11 identified “EasternTurkistan” terrorists were: Hasan Mahsum, Muhanmetemin Hazret, Dolqun Isa,Abudujelili Kalakash, Abudukadir Yapuquan, Abudumijit Abduhammatkelim,Abudula Kariaji, Abulimit Turxun, Huadaberdi Haxerbik, Yasen Muhammat andAtahan Abuduhani. 2 Interestingly, included in the list was a Mr. Hasan Mahsum,the reputed leader of ETIM, who had earlier reportedly been killed in a Pakistaniraid on an al-Qaida camp in Waziristan on October 2, 2003. 3 On November10, 2003, the author had actually met Mr. Dolqun Isa, a young Uyghur living inMunich, who was also included on the list as one of 11 identified internationalterrorists, and the former elected president of the World Uygur Youth Congress(also listed as one of four terrorist organizations). During that meeting Mr. Isaclaimed that he had nothing to do with terrorism, that such violence was contraryto his devout faith in Islam, and handed me a printed anti-terrorism brochure ofthe East Turkistan (Uyghuristan) National Congress that was entitled: “Help theUyghurs to Fight Terrorism.” 4 This is yet another example of the importance ofinternational organizations in helping to define and shape the Uyghur movement.These rather conflicting reports, and even popular novels, raise importantquestions about Muslims, transnational Islam, the institutional links between455