THE UYGHURS

The Uyghur people are the indigenous and majority population living in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) or what they correctly refer from a historical point of view as East Turkestan. The current territory of East Turkestan, or the XUAR under the PRC rule, is more than 1.6 million square kilometers and is bordering with Russia, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India. It also borders in its east with China’s Gansu and Qinghai provinces as well as Tibet.

Although the Uyghurs are considered a minority in China but they still remain the majority population in East Turkestan. Furthermore, they cannot be considered a minority group in comparison to other population groups in the world. The Uyghur population is one of the groups ranking within the 100 groups whose population exceeds more than one million. If there are 2,000 ethnic groups in the world, the Uyghurs are within the first 100. In fact the size of Uyghur population is bigger than many population groups who have independent states. For example, the size of Kyrgyz and Turkmen populations, although smaller than the Uyghur population, they both have independent states.

The Uyghurs are not a minority in East Turkestan but have always been the absolute majority. According to latest Chinese statistics, the Uyghurs are still the majority in the XUAR. In 1949, the Uyghur population consisted of 78% of the total population in East Turkestan and together with other Turkic groups such Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, Tatars, and Uzbeks, consisted of 98% of the total population. The Chinese population was only 2% in 1949 but has become nearly half of the total population in the XUAR at this time and may soon even become the majority population. Although the 2002 Chinese statistics put the total number of Uyghurs into 8.2 million but Uyghur estimates are higher and up to 20 million. The Uyghurs are considered the fifth largest Turkic groups in Central Asia after Azers, Kazakhs, Turks and Uzbeks, with a long political history and civilization.

1. The Distribution of Uyghur Population

The majority Uyghur population live in East Turkestan and the rest live in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Russia. A small portion of the Uyghur population also lives in Mongolia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Turkey and Saudi Arabia.

a. Uyghur Diaspora in Central Asia

Today, majority of Uyghur diaspora lives in Central Asian states because East Turkestan is part of Central Asia and Uyghurs have close historical, ethnic, and cultural relations with the peoples there as well as geological oneness. According to official statistics from Central Asian states, the Uyghur population in Kazakhstan is 246,000, in Kyrgyzstan is 50,000, in Uzbekistan 39,000 and in Russia is around 3,000. But local Uyghur intellectuals believe that the actual number of Uyghur population in Central Asia is around 1 to 2 million and their number is reduced to what it is now for political reasons.During the 19th century, an estimated 300,000 Uyghurs living in Fergana Valley mixed with Uzbeks in that region. During the 18th and 19th centuries, many Uyghurs in the Ili and Kashgar regions fled to Central Asia as a result of Manchu suppression of Uyghur uprisings against the invading Qing army. Although later certain number of Uyghurs returned to East Turkestan to fight off the Manchu invaders but they had to flee again in 1877 after the defeat of Yakub Beg’s state of Kashgaria, and in 1881 after the Russians returned the Ili region to the Manchus according to “The Russian-Qing Agreement.?The Uyghur immigration to Central Asia has never stopped. In the early 20th century, there have been many waves of Uyghurs going to the then-Soviet Fergana Valley from Kashgaria and to the then-Soviet Yette Su region from the Ili Region to work in factories or do business, and finally settled there. Such waves of immigration increased the Uyghur population in the Soviet Central Asia in the early 20th century to 700,000 according to the Soviet statistics, but the number of Soviet Uyghurs dramatically decreased due to Stalin’s targeted purge of Uyghurs from 1937 to 1938, and due to the WWII from 1941 to 1945. Also, during 1950s and 1960s, there was a mass exodus of Uyghurs into the Soviet Central Asia but the exact number is unclear. Some estimates are up to 100,000. Most of them settled in the Kazakhstan Republic.During the Soviet era, the Uyghur culture was allowed to develop in Kazakhstan. In those years, the Soviet leadership offered Uyghurs in Central Asia certain privileges in order to take advantage of their geopolitical position in dealing with Communist China. In Kazakhstan alone, five different Uyghur newspapers were published; Uyghur bureau was established in every publishing house for printing Uyghur science and literature books and textbooks for Uyghur schools. In addition, more than 60 Uyghur schools were established and some universities also opened Uyghur offices/centers. There were both daily Uyghur radio and television broadcasting. And Uyghur Theater was quite active. However, such trends changed dramatically after Kazakhstan had become independent in 1991. Many of these programs were cut except the Uyghur schools. Today, Kazakhstan still remains to be the Central Asian country, comparatively better than both Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, where the Uyghur culture is best preserved.The situation in Kyrgyzstan is quite different from Kazakhstan. Although there have never been Uyghur media or schools in this country, but Uyghurs have been able to successfully preserve their own ethnic identity and tradition. The Uyghur diaspora in Kyrgyzstan has always had a close relationship with the Uyghur diaspora in Kazakhstan. They are closely in touch through frequent visits, meetings and exchanges. Such exchanges have played a positive role in preserving the Uyghur culture and identity in Kyrgyzstan. In general, during the 1950s and 1960s, Uygurs from the Ili Region settled down in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, and Uyghurs from the Kashgar and Artush Regions settled down in Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan. Although the Uyghurs local to Kyrgyzstan shared the same ethnicity with the Uyghur settlers from East Turkestan but they have preserved their own unique difference. In terms of ethnic assimilation of Uyghur communities in Central Asia, the most notable one is the Uyghur diaspora in Uzbekistan because of the close proximity of Uyghur-Uzbek languages, customs and traditions, etc. However, such trend is rare in both Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. Today, Kazakhstan is the country where the biggest Uyghur diaspora lives. But there is definite information with regard to the Uyghur communities in Tajikistan and Turkmenistan. But according to the Soviet statistics, there were more than 4,000 Uyghur residents in the Bayram Ali region of Turkmenistan some 20 years ago. After the collapse of the Soviet Union and the independence of the Central Asian states, Uyghurs living in these states began to promote and preserve Uyghur culture and identity, and even began to form political and cultural organizations aimed at linking their political future with those Uyghurs in East Turkestan. Initially, the Central Asian states allowed Uyghurs to form such organizations and even took advantage of them. But after the establishment of the Shanghai Five group in 1996, Central Asian states began to restrict Uyghur political activities in their respective territories in consideration of their diplomatic relations with China. After September 11, 2001, Central Asian states supported the Chinese efforts to fight against terrorism and restricted any kind of Uyghur political activism and warned Uyghurs not to interfere with China’s territorial integrity. They even dispatched Uyghur community leaders to China to establish ‘normal?relations with Beijing. In the past, the Uyghurs in Central Asia became a useful card for the Soviets to play against China. And again, Uyghurs became a card for the Central Asian states to play, this time, in favor of China.

b. Uyghur Diaspora in the West

The first Uyghurs reached the West, especially Europe through Russia, Turkey and India, in the early part of the 20th century. But there is no specific information on their resettlement there. During the 1970s, a lot of Uyghur began to immigrate to Western countries. In this period, some Uyghurs who had immigrated to Turkey from 1949 to 1960 began to immigrate to Germany as a result of employment. This is the beginning of Uyghur immigration in Western and Northern Europe. Around the same time period, some Uyghur immigrated to Australia. Although the first Uyghurs came to the U.S. in the 1950s but majority of them arrived after late 1980s. The number of Uyghur immigrants in the West dramatically increased after 2000 and is still growing. Today, an estimated 1,000 Uyghur Americans and Uyghurs with permanent legal resident status are living in the United States as students and employees. Both Radio Free Asia Uyghur Service and the Uyghur American Association based in Washington, DC became a magnet for other Uyghur immigrants to come and live in the U.S. capital. In Canada, Uyghur immigrants are spread mostly in three locations: Toronto, Vancouver and Quebec. Most Uyghurs living in Quebec came from Central Asia.At present, one could find Uyghurs in most European Union nations such as Germany, the Great Britain, Holland, Belgium, France, Switzerland, Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Finland. Uyghurs, who came to these countries for various reasons, are in two major groups: one came directly from East Turkestan and another from Central Asian states of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. The Uyghurs who have immigrated to the West are second generation Uyghurs whose parents fled China during 1950s and 1960s to Central Asia.

2. Uyghur Language and Script

Uyghur language belongs to the Uyghur-Qarluq group within the family tree of Turkish languages in the Altai language system. The Uyghur language, together with more than 40 Turkic languages including Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Uzbek and Tartar share close affinity in morphology, syntax and phonetics. Among these languages, Uyghur and Uzbek are the closest two languages belonging in the same language group.

The Uyghurs are one of the oldest Turkic groups that developed and used their own written script. The Uyghurs used Old Turkic runic script from 6th to 9th centuries. They used Uyghur script developed from the Soghdian script from 9th to 16th centuries. But the Uyghurs in Tarim Valley who accepted Islam began to use the Arabic script since the 10th century. This Uyghur Arabic script, modified many times over the centuries to today’s 32-letter system, has been used by all Uyghurs as official script to this day.

The Uyghurs in the Soviet Central Asia used the Uyghur Latin script in the 1930s and began to use the Uyghur Cyrillic script in 1947. This Cyrillic script was recognized as the official Uyghur script in Kazakhstan for purposes of education, media and publication.

3. Religion

The Uyghur people believe in the Sunni Branch of Islam. Alghouth Islam reached Kasghar in the 8th century but it did not become the state religion of the Uyghur Qarahand Kingdom until the 10th century. Since then, Islam quickly spread and all Uyghurs became Muslims around the 15th century.Historically, the Uyghurs have believed in a number of religions, including Shamanism, Buddhism, Manichaeism, Christianity, and finally Islam. For about a thousand years, the Uyghurs have continued to believe in Islam. Buddhism initially came to Uyghurs in Hotan via India during the 2nd century B.C. Uyghur Buddhism centers such as Kuchar and Turfan played a pivotal role in spreading Buddhism to China. Prominent Uyghur Buddhist scholar Komorajiwa translated Buddhist scripts and philosophies into Chinese for their conversion. Uyghurs also believed in Manichaeism and Christianity before the advent of Islam. They played an active role in promoting and spreading these religions to their neighbors. From the 10th to 15th centuries, Buddhism, Manichaeism, Christianity and Islam peacefully coexisted among the Uyghur religious believers under the rule of Uyghur Idiqut Kingdom in Turfan. The Uyghurs believing all these different religions lived in peace, harmony, equality, and respected one another’s religious beliefs, creating a new culture. In the later period, Islam became the dominant religion over other religions, and was accepted by Uyghur tribes in both Turfan and Qumul regions. The tolerant rule of the Uyghur Idiqut Kingdom (867-1368) in Turfan is one of the most progressive rules of ancient times and paved a way of religious tolerance for later periods.After the first Uyghurs accepted Islam in the 10th century, it gradually spread and finally became the dominant religion among the Uyghurs. As Islam permeated into Uyghur heartlands, it played an important role in forming Uyghur spirituality, Uyghur social values, economic outlook and new Uyghur identity.

4. Culture, Literature and Art

The Uyghurs possess a rich folk and ethnographic culture. In terms of Uyghur food, dress, music, instruments and lifestyle, the Uyghurs belong to the Central Asian culture, which is completely different from the Chinese culture. Although East Turkestan is now officially part of the PRC but the Uyghurs are an inalienable part of the Turkic peoples in ethnicity, the Muslim world in religion, and the Central Asia in culture.

It is true that at a later period the Uyghurs?traditional culture was to a certain extent influenced by the Chinese and Western cultures. In some ways, the Uyghur culture conformed to the modern Chinese culture but such conformation has not fundamentally changed the traditional Uyghur culture. Since the Uyghur culture is essentially a Central Asian culture, and the Chinese culture an Eastern culture, it is easer for the Uyghurs to accept the Central or Western Asian cultural values since they share the same ethnicity and religion.
With the Russian conquest of Central Asia during the late 19th century, European social, economic, industrial and cultural influence began to permeate into this region. The Uyghurs, through the Ferghana Valley and the Yette Su region, began to come into contact with Russian and European cultures and goods. During this period, Turks, Tartars and Uzbek bourgeois as well as Uyghur capitalists played an important role in bringing European-style education for the Uyghurs and in enlightening them with new political ideologies.

With the revolutionary changes in Russia during the late 19th and early 20th centuries and influx of Russian immigrants fleeing the Soviet communist rule into East Turkestan as well as the continuous Soviet influence in the region from 1930s to 1950s, modern Uyghur culture began to flourish intermingling with the European cultural values. In short, the Uyghur modern culture developed in East Turkestan not under the influence of the still minority Chinese culture but under the influence of Central Asian and Western cultures until the 1960s. Even today, the Western cultural influence still dominates the Uyghur cultural psyche.

Historically, the Uyghurs have left a treasure house full of cultural relics. Throughout history, the Uyghurs have created their unique history, a classic literature and oral literature in comparison to other nomadic Turkic tribes. From the Uyghur Empire (A.D. 744-840) based in Mongolia to the Qarahand Uyghur Kingdom based in Kashgar (A.D. 9th century-1212) and to the Idiqut Kingdom based in Turfan (A.D. 867-1368), the Uyghurs using ancient Runic script, Uyghur script and later Arab script left volumes upon volumes of scripts and writings on Buddhism, Manichaeism, Christianity and Islam as well as political, social, legal and literature works.

The early Middle Ages can be considered the Golden Age of Uyghur civilization in Central Asia. During the 11th century, prominent Uyghur scholar Mahmud Kashgari wrote the renowned “Turkic Languages Encyclopedia?and famous Uyghur statesman Yusuf Has Hajip penned the book on statecraft “Qutatqu Bilik.?Around the same time, the epic “Oghuzname?appeared in the Turfan region and other poetry and translated works such as “Altun Yaruq,?“Matriy Simit?and “The Biography of Xunzang?became the representative works of the time.

The Uyghurs, during the Mongol rule of Chingiz Khan and his descendents, used the Uyghur-Turkic Chaghatay Language and created valuable cultural relics and literature works. This Uyghur language, containing many borrowed Arab and Farsi loan words, became the main literary language of Turkic peoples in Central Asia from the 14th to 19th centuries. Renowned Uyghur poets such as Nawayi (1441-1501), Lutfi (1366-1465), Sekkaki (1468-?), Atayi (15th century), Hirqiti (17th century), Gheribi (18th century), Zelili (1676-1755), Newbeti (1691-1760?), Abdureyim Nizari (1779-1880), Molla Shakir (1805-1870), and Bilal Nazim (1824-1899) became the Uyghur literature stars who developed the modern Uyghur literature based on the ancient Kashgar-Turfan literature heritage. In other words, modern Uyghur literature is the continuation of ancient Uyghur literary traditions.

The Uyghur classic literature in different ages has been under the tremendous influence of different religious beliefs and other factors such as Sanskrit, Farsi and Arab culture. Although the Chinese scholars attempt to prove that Uyghur classic literature was developed under the strong influence of Chinese culture but in fact there is little or no evidence that it was the case and such proposition has been rejected.In addition, the Uyghurs also developed different prose-style poetry in the 18th and 19th centuries and recorded historical events with epic poetries. These epic poetries recorded the conversion of Qarahand King Sultan Sutuq to Islam in the 10th century, the history of the Yarkand Kingdom (1514-1678), the Ages of Hojas (1678-1759) and the events related to the struggle against the Manchu invasion, including battles of Kashgar King Yaqup Beg, the Rashidin Hoja uprising in Kuchar and the actions of Uyghur Taranchi in Ili region. The representative examples of such epic poetry are the works of Muhammed Sadiq Kashgari (1725-1849), Mollah Haji (19th century), and Mollah Musa Sayrami (1836-1917). Today, there are more than 400 manuscripts of ancient Uyghur epic poetries preserved in the Asian Museum of the Saint Petersburg in Russia. Others are available at the museums and research institutes in Urumchi, Beijing, Tashkent, and Moscow.

The Uyghurs created the modern Uyghur literature in the 20th century. The Uyghur writers and poets using different writing styles and forms made unprecedented progress in writing epic poetries, prose and even drama. The modern Uyghur literature is a complete system of literature developed partly in the Uyghur literature centers of Alma-Ata and Tashkent in the 1930s. The Uyghur writers in the Soviet Central Asia, such as Omer Muhammedi, Hezim Iskendirof, and Momun Hemrayef, made tremendous contribution to the formation of modern Uyghur literature. In East Turkestan, Abduhaliq Uyghuri, Lutfulla Mutellip, Zunun Qadir, abdurehim Otkur, Ziya Semedi, Teyipjan Eliyof and Zordun Sabir are considered the forefathers of modern Uyghur literature. Although the modern Uyghur literature was developed in both East Turkestan and the Soviet Central Asia, and could even be divided into two separate literatures, but they are in fact one because they shared the same theme, content and styles.

The historic Uyghur art of paining is quite unique in style and highly developed. The Buddhist paintings in the grottoes of Turfan and Kuchar are the best representatives of Uyghur classical paintings. At present, the Kuchar Grottoes paintings are quite well preserved in abundance. The Uyghur Buddhist paintings have a long history and lasted until the 13th century in Turfan area. After Islam became the dominant religion of Uyghurs, the Uyghur grottoes paintings practically ceased. Although some miniature paintings appeared in the Middle Ages but they didn’t develop any further than the art of painting in Central Asia.

Today, Uyghur painters in both East Turkestan and Central Asian states have been able to successfully create unique paintings in the realist, abstract and French styles. The best examples can be Ghazi Amat and Kerim Nasirdin from East Turkestan; Lekim Ibrayimof form Uzbekistan; Azat Mamadinof from Russia; Ahat Baqiyev from Kazakhstan and Telet Mirrahimof from Kyrgyzstan. There are currently more than 100 well-known Uyghur painters in East Turkestan and Central Asia, and Ghazi Amat is considered the father of modern Uyghur painting.

The Uyghurs cannot live with their music and songs. The Uyghurs have a very unique musical culture with “Uyghur Twelve Muqam?representing the most systematic Uyghur classical music. Although different Uyghur regions have their own special dance and music but all of them use the same musical instruments, such as satar, ghejek, tambur, dutar, rawap, flute and drum. Uyghur songs, divided by regions, have their peculiar regional tones special to each region. As a result, Uyghur dance and music in Kuchar, Kashgar, Artush, Turfan, Qumul and Ili are somewhat different. Uyghur singers Tudahum, Pasha Ishan, Abdureyim Ahmedi and others are famous for singing Uyghur muqams and folk songs. According to Chinese historical sources, Uyghur people living in the Tarim Basin from the 7th to the 13th centuries developed a high culture of music, dancing and singing. During the 10th century, Chinese visitor Wang Yende recorded that Uyghurs living in the Turfan Iduqut Kingdom carried with them musical instruments everywhere.

Uyghurs not only developed their own style of singing, dancing and playing music throughout history. They have also adopted many Western style of singing, dancing and playing music in recent years, enriching the Uyghur musical culture to another step.

5. Historical Identity

The Uyghurs are one of the oldest Turkic peoples in Central Asia. According to historical Chinese record, they have direct blood relations with the ancient Huns and even considered their descendents. Russian historian A. N. Bernishtam believes that the Uyghur people have historically lived in East Turkestan, Mongolia and Yette Su region, and they are the indigenous to East Turkestan.

The Uyghurs established the Qanqil Kingdom during the 5th and 6th centuries in the Tarim Basin and the eastern part of the Tagnri Mountains (Tianshan Mountain), and became part of the Kok Turk Empire in the 7th century. The Uyghurs in Mongolia established their own state in the 7th century. In 744, the Uyghurs established a powerful Uyghur State based in Mongolia ruling East Turkestan, Yette Su region, southern Siberia and Altai region including all Turkic, Mongol and even Tonghus-Manchu languages speaking peoples. According to prominent China scholar Colin Mackeras, the Uyghurs actually established an empire called the “Uyghur Empire.?

During the 8th and 9th centuries, the Uyghur Empire became the co-equal of China’s Tang Dynasty and the Tibetan Kingdom and in many ways was more powerful than both. The Uyghur Empire played a critical role in suppressing the An Lushan Uprising against the Tang Dynasty, which almost overthrew it, and in saving the weak Chinese state. As a result, the Tang Dynasty became a subordinate of the Uyghur Empire and began to pay annual tributes to the Uyghurs.

After the fall of the Uyghur Empire in Mongolia in 840, Uyghurs moved in five directions. Most Uyghur tribes based in the empire capital of Karabalghasun moved to today’s Gansu province and East Turkestan, and mixed with the local Uyghur and Turkic tribes. Later they established the Turfan Idiqut Kingdom (867-1368), Ganzhou Uyghur Kingdom (847-1036) and the Qarahand Kingdom (9th century to 1212). Although some Chinese scholars attempt to describe that Uyghurs moved into East Turkestan for the first time only after the fall of the Uyghur Empire in Mongolia, but other prominent Chinese scholars such as Feng Jasheng, Gu Bao, and Chen Sulo rejected such proposition by stating that Uyghurs lived in East Turketan long before the fall of their empire. Gu Bao believes that most Uyghurs at the time of the fall of the Uyghur Empire lived in the Tarim-Turfan basin area and only a minority of Uyghurs from Mongolia moved into this area after the fall. Bao asserts that Uyghurs have always been the indigenous population of East Turkestan. In addition, Russian scholar A. N. Bernishtam, D.I. Tihonof, D. Pozdneyev and V. Radlov as well as the Japanese scholar Abe Takeo and Turkish scholars Bahayiddin Oge and Zeki Welidi Toghan believe that the Uyghurs are one of the most ancient Turkic peoples indigenous to today’s East Turkestan.


Furthermore, Uyhgur historians Muhammed Imin Bughra (1901-1965), Turghun Almas (1921-2001), Dawut Issiyef (1937-1996) and Malik Kebirof confirm that East Turkestan has always been the motherland of the Uyghur people, the Uyghurs who had moved to the Orhun Basin (Mongolia) were only belonging to the eastern Uyghur tribes who later established the Uyghur Empire in Mongolia. They believe that these eastern Uyghur tribes moved back to East Turkestan area after the fall of the empire and later played a significant role in keeping the historic motherland of Uyghurs independent until the Manchu armies invaded in 1759.

During the 12th and 13th centuries, there had been great changes taking place in Central Asia. In 1206, Chingiz Khan established a Mongol Dynasty after conquering Mongol factions and neighboring Turkic tribes. Since the Uyghur Kingdom in Turfan recognized the Mongol Kingdom as one of the first states, the Uyghurs developed a friendly relation with the Mongol Empire. As a result such close ally relationship, Chingiz Khan offered his daughter to marry the Uyghur King and even called him his “fifth son.?Chingiz Khan also adopted the Uyghur script as the official script of the Mongol Empire and hired Uyghur military commanders and scribes to serve his army and educate his people.

In general, the Uyghurs played a very important role during the Mongol Empire period in its administration of Persia, Central Asia and China. During the rule of Chingiz Khan’s son Kublai Khan (1279-1368) in China, the Uyghurs were given a position just below the ruling Mongols in light of their tremendous contribution to the empire. The Uyghurs were given such a high position as a result of their advanced culture and loyalty to the empire.

During the 13th and 14th centuries, the Uyghurs lived under the Chaghatay rule. During the 16th century, the Uyghurs in Tarim Basin established the Saidiye Kingdom in Yarkand, ruling the areas including East Turkestan, Yette Su region, parts of Tibet and Kashmir. Although during the 17th and 18th centuries, the Uyghurs were under the strong influence of the Junghar Mongol influence and even paid taxes to them, but they were mostly left alone to rule themselves under the Uyghur Hojas. In 1759, the Manchu Qing Dynasty invaded the Tarim Basin but faced fierce resistance from the Uyghurs. As a result, the Manchus were never able to successfully control East Turkestan. In fact, the Manchu rule in East Turkestan was overthrown in 1864. After that, Uyghurs established the Kashgaria Uyghur Kingdom (1865-1878) in the south and the Ili Sultanate (1864-1871) in the north, freeing them from foreign subjugation. The Kashgaria Kingdom later became the focal point of power struggle between great powers such as the Great Britain, Russia and the Manchu Qing Dynasty, which is called the “Great Game.?As a result of this great game, both Russia and the Great Britain allowed the Manchus to reoccupy East Turkestan.

In 1878, the Manchu armies led by General Zo Zongtang invaded East Turkestan and established the Manchu rule. In 1884, the Manchus changed East Turkestan into “Xinjiang,?meaning “New Territory,?and designated it as a province. In other words, the name “Xinjiang?has only been used for 113 years. Before that, the Chinese called this region as “Xiyu?or “Western Region?and some even called “Huijiang?meaning ?the Territory of Muslims.?Although the Manchus used Xinjiang to name East Turkestan but the local Uyghur population was not aware of such name changes so continuously used the words “East Turkestan,?“Turkestan?or the oases names of their own towns. In 1912, after the Chinese revolution that overthrew the Manchu Qin Dynasty and the establishment of the Chinese Republic, the Uyghurs in Qumul region revolted against the Chinese rule but failed. After that Chinese governor Yang Zengxing ruled East Turkestan for 17 years enforcing a policy of “divide and conquer, and keep locals backward.?Although he was one of the most cunning early Chinese rulers in East Turkestan but he died in the hands of others. In 1931, the Uyghurs in Qumul staged another large scale uprising against the Chinese rule and the Uyghurs along with other Turkic groups such as Kazakhs and Kyrgys as well as Mongols controlled all areas of East Turkestan except Urumchi in 1934.
On November 12, 1933 the Uyghurs declared their independence by establishing the East Turkestan Islamic Republic and announced that they were the masters of East Turkestan. This republic, established on democratic principles, had its own constitution, national flag, national emblem and money. By declaring a democratic rule and abolishment of Chinese rule, this new republic adopted both foreign and domestic policies. However, in 1934, the Soviet Union established the Xinjiang Research Office led by Voroshilov to assess the situation in East Turkestan and the roles of the Great Britain and Japan in the region. This office later recommended to the Soviet government that Moscow should support the Chinese militarist Shen Shicai’s rule in East Turkestan instead of recognizing the newly independent Uyghur state because that would serve Moscow’s long-term political interest in creating the region as a buffer zone and in opposing the British, Japanese and Islamic challenges in the region. As a result, the Soviets sent its red army and crushed the Uyghur state, solidified the Chinese militarist rule in the region, prevented Chinese Nationalist army to enter the region, blocked the pathway to East Turkestan for seven years and later deployed a block of red army near the border.
After Sheng Shicai solidified his power, and especially after the Nazi Germans invaded the Soviet Union in 1941, he betrayed Moscow and allied with Chinese Nationalists. He allowed the entry of the Chinese Nationalist Army into East Turkestan. In 1943, the Chinese Nationalist Government allowed the U.S. and the Great Britain to establish their consulates in Urumchi in order to put further pressure on the Soviets. Since then, Stalin realized his betrayal and began to support the Uyghur independence and prevent an American and British foothold in the region in order to take his revenge against Shen Shicai and the Chinese Nationalists.

During his 13-year rule, Shen Shicai murdered more than 100,000 Uyghurs and other Turkic people under all kinds of false political and criminal charges, enraging them and inspiring them to seek independence. As a result, starting in 1943 Uyghur and Kazakhs began to form underground political organizations against Shen’s rule. In September 1944, Uyghurs in the Ili region armed themselves and fought against Chinese rule. On November 12, just three months later, they declared the independence of the East Turkestan Republic. This new republic received military, political, and financial support from the Soviet Union. The Soviets also provided all kinds of advisers.

In its 9-point declaration, the East Turkestan Republic declared an independent republic that would treat all religions and peoples equally by embracing democracy and rejecting totalitarianism. On April 8, 1945 the East Turkestan Republic established its standing army and fought against the Chinese Nationalist forces in three fronts and liberated 26 counties in Ili, Altay and Tarbaghatay regions as well as 6 counties in Kashgar and Aksu regions. The Uyghur struggle for independence became nationwide and the Chinese Nationalist government in Urumchi was about to be crushed. At such a critical time, Stalin forced the East Turkestan leadership to compromise and negotiate with the Chinese Nationalist government. After nearly eight months of negotiation under intense pressure from Moscow, a coalition government was established for the Uyghurs and Chinese to share political powers. But the coalition government collapsed within a year and the East Turkestan army resumed fighting against the Chinese forces and stopped at the Manas River. This river became the unofficial border between two sides until November 1949.

The democratic East Turkestan Republic, consisted of Ili, Altai and Tarbaghatay regions, was loved by all the ethnic groups living in those regions. The reason is that all peoples including the Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, Tartars, Tajiks, Tunggan and Uzbeks believing in Islam, Russians believing in Christianity, Mongols believing in Lamaism, and Shibo and Daur believing in Shamanism fought together for their freedom and this republic. They all supported and created the independence of East Turkestan. Although some Chinese historians try to portray this independence republic as established under the influence of pan-Turkism and pan-Islamism but such views are not in line with history.


One of the main reasons for Moscow to stop supporting the East Turkestan Republic and forcing its leaders to negotiate with the Chinese Nationalist government was the agreement made at the Yalta Conference held on February 11, 1945, in which the Soviets signed a friendship treaty with the Chinese Nationalists after the Russian interests in Mongolia and Manchuria guaranteed, the Russian decided to join the war against Japan to end the WWII and determine the post-war order. In accordance with the Yalta Agreement, the Soviet-Chinese negotiation started in June 1945 and ended in August after the Chinese Nationalist government guaranteed the Russian interest in Mongolia and Manchuria. In these negotiations, Chinese Nationalist leader Jiang Jieshi demanded from Stalin that Moscow not support the East Turkestan independence and provide weapons. Moscow assured Jiang that the Soviets had no territorial interest in Xinjiang. In short, both Russian and Western historian believe that the East Turkestan Republic became a ‘strategic pawn?of power politics and the Uyghur people’s struggle for freedom and independence was betrayed by political intrigues of great powers.

In late 1949, Stalin decided to support Mao Zedong’s communist revolution due to the political situation in China and the necessity of emerging Cold War. During his secret visit to Moscow in July 1947, Liu Shaoqi not only talked about the political system after the communist revolution but also the Xinjiang problem. Liu reiterated to the Soviet leadership that Xinjiang was part of China. According to Uyghur historic witness accounts, Stalin sent Seyfidin Aziz as a figurehead of the East Turkestan Republic to Beijing to attend the founding ceremony of the People’s Republic of China in October 1949 after East Turkestan President Ahmatjan Qasimi and other high-level ministers had refused to accept Stalin’s proposal that East Turkestan should be under Chinese communist rule and died in an alleged plane crash on their way to Beijing as a result of their refusal.

Furthermore, the Soviets played an active role in persuading remaining Chinese Nationalist forces to surrender to the incoming Chinese red army, which was airlifted by the Soviet transport planes to accelerate the occupation of East Turkestan. With the full support of the Soviet Union, the Chinese red army was able to enter and occupy East Turkestan by November 1949 and start a new and dark political chapter. Mao Zedong, when commenting on the independent East Turkestan, said “The Three-Region Struggle is part of China’s new democratic struggle,?implying that it was not fought for Uyghur independence. The East Turkestan people and army were able to learn of the death of their president Ahmatjan Qasimi and others three months after their death because Moscow and Beijing had kept it as the ultimate secret. Since then it was forbidden to fly the flag of the East Turkestan Republic and sing songs about the independence of East Turkestan. Only the Chinese flag was allowed to fly and the East Turkestan army was incorporated as the fifth corps of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army.

During this period in December 1949, a Chinese delegation led by Mao Zedong visited Moscow. After three months of negotiation, in February 1950 the “Sino-Soviet Friendsip and Cooperation Agreement?was signed. There were two clauses directly related to mining in East Turkestan and signed by Seyfidin Aziz, former education minister of the East Turkestan Republic who replaced the murdered president Ahmatjan Qasimi. After everything was completed according to the wishes of Stalin and Mao Zedong, in March 1950 the death of Ahmatjan Qasimi and other high-level Uyghur officials were declared and their bodies sent back to Ghulja City for burial.

In October 1955, East Turkestan was declared the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. Since 1949, the Uyghur people became only one of the 55 minority nationalities in China and suffered unprecedented repression at the hands of the Chinese government. Such heavy-handed repression, in addition to earlier Chinese rule, resulted the death of hundreds of thousands of Uyghurs. Historians calculated more than 400 large-scale uprising against foreign rule by the Uyghur since the Manchu Qing Dynasty invaded East Turkestan. There have been many uprisings against the communist Chinese rule as well since 1949. If the Uyghur people were indeed “liberated?as the Chinese government claims, then why would they continue to stage uprisings against their rule? If they were indeed liberated, the situation would not be as complicated as today. And the international community would not have noticed the problems either.

From:Ammerican Uyghur Association