dogu-turkistan-sempozyumu

FREEEAST TURKISTAN SYMPOSIUMUighur distinguish themselves as the legitimate autochthonous minority, sinceboth share a belief in Sunni Islam. In contrast to the formerly nomadic Muslimpeoples, such as the Kazak, numbering more than one million, the Uighur mightstress their attachment to the land and oasis of origin. Most profoundly, modernUighurs, especially those living in larger towns and urban areas, are markedby their reaction to Chinese influence and incorporation. It is often Islamictraditions that become the focal point for Uighur efforts to preserve their cultureand history. One such popular tradition that has resurfaced in recent years isthat of the Mashrap, where young Uighurs generally gather to recite poetry andsing songs (often of folk or religious content), dance, and share traditional foods.These evening events have often become foci for Uighur resistance to Chineserule in past years. However, although within the region many portray the Uighuras united around separatist or Islamist causes, the Uighur continue to be dividedfrom within by religious conflicts, in this case competing Sufi and non-Sufifactions, territorial loyalties (whether they be oases or places of origin), linguisticdiscrepancies, commoner-elite alienation, and competing political loyalties. Thesedivided loyalties were evidenced by the attack in May 1996 on the imam of theIdgah Mosque in Kashgar by other Uighurs, as well as the assassination of atleast six Uighur officials in September 1997. It is this contested understanding ofhistory that continues to influence much of the current debate over separatist andChinese claims to the region.466Chinese nationalities policy and the UighurMany Uighur with whom I have spoken in Turfan and Kashgar argue persuasivelythat they are the autochthonous people of this region. The fact that over 99.8 per centof the Uighur population are located in Xinjiang, whereas other Muslim peoples ofChina have significant populations in other provinces (e.g. the Hui) and outside thecountry (e.g. the Kazakh), contributes to this important sense of belonging to theland. The Uighur continue to conceive of their ancestors as originating in Xinjiang,claiming to outsiders that “it is our land, our territory”, despite the fact that the earlyUighur kingdom was based in what is now Outer Mongolia and the present regionof Xinjiang is under the control of the Chinese State.Unprecedented socio-political integration of Xinjiang into the Chinesenation-state has taken place in the last 40 years. While Xinjiang has been under