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FREEEAST TURKISTAN SYMPOSIUMResponse of the World Uyghur CouncilThe chairperson of the World Uyghur Council, Rabia Kadir Hanım, statedthat she was not responsible for these events and denied the accusations madeby Nur Bekri. She claimed that the Uyghur people had organised a peacefuldemonstration in reaction to the oppression inflicted by the Chinese government.Rabia Kadir Hanım went on to say that tens of thousands of Chinese workersin the toy factory in the city of Shaoguan in Guangdong Province had attackedthe Uyghurs, killing many Uyghur youths; in response, the Uyghur youths helda demonstration demanding that the Chinese government find the perpetratorsof these homicides. 6 The World Uyghur Council stated that the Chineseadministration had violently dispersed the peaceful Uyghur demonstrations byopening fire on the crowd, and after this the event deteriorated and became anethnic conflict. Rabia Kadir Hanım made the following statement concerningthis issue: “The reason why these events happened is the ethnic discriminationpolicy that China has pursued for many years. The Beijing administration hasforced many Uyghur young people to migrate to the interior of China while alsoencouraging Chinese people to migrate into East Turkistan. It is not I, but theChinese administration that has done this. Under the Chinese administrationthe Uyghur people have been deprived of their human rights, of democracy andfreedom of religion, and are treated as second-class citizens in their own land. 7A Uyghur youth, who preferred to remain anonymous, provided informationto television stations in Turkey concerning the true aspect of the event via livetelephone connections. He reported to the correspondent of Radio Free Asia, aradio station broadcasting in East Turkistan, as follows 8 :“I participated in these events. Right now I am walking around the area wherethis event took place. Currently there are Chinese soldiers everywhere. We, threehundred students, organised a peaceful demonstration to demand that the Chineseadministration find those who killed the Uyghur workers in the toy factory in thecity of Shaoguan in the Guangdong Province on June 26. Chinese troops usedbullets and grenades to disperse the crowd. I saw seven people fall down, and theyarrested many of our friends; after this the peaceful demonstration turned into anethnic conflict. Now, the Uyghur people are fighting the Chinese soldiers in thebackstreets with sticks in their hands. Many Uyghurs have been killed.”518