dogu-turkistan-sempozyumu

East Turkistan: The Road to Freedom and the Right to Self-Determination / Sirajeddin Azizi SemseddinThe procedures set against non-official schools are so severe that it is hard forthe human mind to grasp. In 2008 more than 200 children, aged between 8 and14 years of age were arrested and imprisoned in Urumqi for a period of more thansix months; they were only released after their parents paid a fine of ten thousandYuan. Despite everything, great sacrifices are made by the people of Turkistan tolearn their religion. If we compare the situation of Muslims who have the abilityto study their religion and their knowledge, it is surprising that the people ofTurkistan are very far ahead of other republics in Central Asia.The abolition of the Uyghur languageThe Uygur language has been forbidden from being taught in schools fromthe beginning of March 2009, and has been removed from government offices.For example, the name and address of people on their identity cards in Turkistanwere formerly written in the Uyghur language, but now this is written in Chinese.Teachers must master Chinese, or lose their jobs to a Chinese teacher. In thisway China is trying to obscure the identity of the Muslim Turks in EasternTurkistan and thus has eliminated liberty and denied the people the right to selfdetermination.Autonomy in TurkistanOn October 25, 1949 the Chinese army entered East Turkistan and stayedas an occupational force in the capital; when General Wang Jing disembarkedfrom a plane at the airport in Urumqi, he told those meeting him: “We are guestshere and I assure you that we will go back to our country after things settle downin your area; this is a promise from the leader Mao Tse-Tung.” But this guestwas an onerous burden for the country. The Chinese occupation could not fullycontrol the territory of East Turkistan as there was an organized army in the threestates that were proclaimed to be the Republic of East Turkistan; after 6 years ofoccupation, on October 1, 1955 China was forced to announce autonomy in EastTurkistan under the name of the Xinjiang Autonomous Region; the declarationof autonomy for any nation is a recognition of the rights of the people to theirown religion, language, customs and traditions. The resources of the country are589