dogu-turkistan-sempozyumu

The Role of the International Community in East Turkestan / Prof Dru C. Gladneyto the nationwide “Strike Hard” campaign. This campaign, launched in Beijingin April 1997 was originally intended to clamp down on crime and corruption,but has now been turned against “splittists” in Xinjiang, calling for the buildingof a “great wall of steel” against them. The Xinjiang Daily on 16 December 1996contained the following declaration by Wang Lequan, the region’s first partysecretary: “We must oppose separatism and illegal religious activities in a clearand comprehensive manner, striking hard and effectively against our enemies.”These campaigns, according to an April 1999 Amnesty International report, haveled to 210 capital sentences and 190 executions of Uighur since 1997. 29Chinese authorities are correct that increasing international attention to theplight of indigenous border peoples has put pressure on the regions. Notably, theformerly elected chair of the Unrepresented Nations and People’s Organization(UNPO), based in The Hague, is the Uighur, Erkin Alptekin. Erkin Alptekinis the son of the Uighur Nationalist leader, Isa Yusuf Alptekin, who died inIstanbul in December 1995; a park is now dedicated to his memory in this city.There are numerous international organizations working for the independenceof Xinjiang (under the name Eastern Turkestan), based in Amsterdam, Munich,Istanbul, Melbourne and New York. An organization that seeks to coordinatethese disparate movements is the World Uighur Congress, which met recentlyin Washington, DC, from May 21-25, and elected Madam Rabia Kadir asPresident (http://www.uighurcongress.org). Clearly, with Xinjiang representingthe last Muslim region under Communism, Chinese authorities have more to beconcerned about than just international support for Tibetan independence.The real question is, why call such attention to these Tibetan and Muslimactivities and external organizations? From 1998 to 2008, there was a decadewithout a single report of Uighur-related violence. The Istanbul-based groupshave existed since the 1950s, and the Dalai Lama has been active since his exilein 1959. Separatist actions have taken place on a small but regular basis sincethe expansion of market and trade policies in China, and with the opening ofoverland gateways to Xinjiang, including the trans-Eurasian railway after 1991,there seems to be no chance of closing up shop. In his 1994 visit to the newlyindependent nations of Central Asia, Li Peng called for the opening of a “newSilk Road”. This was a clear attempt to calm fears in the newly established471