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Exiled Uyghurs mark East Turkestan formation, say will strive for freedom from China
Uyghurs are a Turkic Muslim minority predominantly in China's northwestern region of Xinjiang, where a recent UN report accused Beijing of committing crimes against humanity.
The Uyghur Muslim community living in exile in Turkey celebrated the formation of the two East Turkestan republics, re-affirming their resolve for independence from the People's Republic of China.
The East Turkestan Federation organised a meeting attended by over 2,000 delegates including the NGO representatives and community members. During the event, the Uyghur leaders highlighted ‘hunger genocide’ unleashed in East Turkestan by the Chinese authorities in the garb of implementing the Covid Zero Policy.
The delegates took a vow that East Turkestan is their homeland and that the community will continue to fight for ‘independence’ from China. Another meeting organised by The International Union of East Turkestan NGOs under Hidayetullah Oghuzhan was held in Istanbul, attended by community leaders and Uyghur academics.
The meeting attended by 800-900 Uyghurs accused China of carrying out a genocidal policy against the members of the community. Another meeting was held at Ankara wherein 200 delegates including NGO representatives, academicians and journalists were in attendance.
Uyghurs are a Turkic Muslim minority predominantly in China's northwestern region of Xinjiang, where a recent UN report said Beijing may have committed crimes against humanity.
On November 1, at least 50 countries majorly from the West urged China to implement all recommendations in the UN report which accused the Jinping regime of possible crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim ethnic groups. Albania, Andorra, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Belize, Bulgaria, Canada, Czech Republic, Israel, UK and United States are among the countries which signed on the statement.
The human rights groups have accused Beijing of large-scale atrocities against minority groups in mainland China, sweeping a million people from the community into detention camps. The detained prisoners are said to have been tortured, sexually assaulted, and forced to abandon their language and religion.
