dogu-turkistan-sempozyumu

FREEEAST TURKISTAN SYMPOSIUMthe people of East Turkistan are an integral part of the peoples of Central Asia interms of ethnic origin, history, culture, religion and other traditions and customs.They have an inseparable relationship with one another. Thus, it is often observedthat incidents which take place anywhere in Central Asia and those that takeplace in East Turkistan have the potential to affect one another. Furthermore, asEast Turkistan is a part of the Muslim world, it is thus natural for East Turkistanto interact with the rest of the Muslim world. In this sense, East Turkistan is ina strategic region that not only connects China with, but also separates it from,Central Asia and the Muslim world. Conflicts in the region started to appear onthe agenda more frequently as ethnic and religious problems increased in EastTurkistan at the end of the Cold War. After the attacks of September 11, theseproblems gained a new dimension and the East Turkistan issue extended beyondChina to appear on the international political scene. In other words, ethnic,religious, environmental and human rights issues started to attract the attentionof the international community. 75. The fifth strong point is the geo-economy of East Turkistan. EastTurkistan has 68 million hectares of agricultural lands, forests and steppes, whichare the largest in China. The income per capita is more than two-folds the averagein China. The region has 27 billion tons of coal reserve that has been discovered,constituting 40% of the overall reserves in China. There are 30 billion tons of oiland natural gas reserves that have been explored in the region, forming 35% ofoverall reserves in China. East Turkistan has been the leading region in cottonproduction for the last twelve years. The importance of these resources can beunderstood when we take into account that the Chinese call cotton “WhiteGold” and oil “Black Gold”. The region is also an important production centerfor rare metals and strategic raw materials in China. These abundant resourcesare the basic guarantee for the sustainability of economic development in China.In addition, China makes efforts to ensure that Turkistan, the most importantregion in the Western Development Project, acts as a center for Central Asiancountries. 86. The East Turkistan issue, which started in 1949, was transformed into aninternational issue after the attacks of September 11, and it has been an elementfor “light politics” in the international arena due to the increasing attention ofWestern countries.568