Common Voice the publication of THE ALLIED COMMITTEE OF THE PEOPLES OF EASTERN TURKESTAN, INNER MONGOLIA, MANCHURIA AND TIBET presently under China

After four years of delay, now you have in front of you the second issue of the Common Voice. When we first started, we hoped to publish the Common Voice every sixth months; but due to lack of financial resources, we have not been able to do so. We are sorry for the delay.

The great interest and sincere love that readers have shown towards the Common Voice has made it possible for us to publish the second issue now.

The flood of encouragement and greetings that we received from friends throughout the world far exceeded our expectations. These messages of love, sympathy and solidarity were such as to bring tears to our eyes.

When the news that the Common Voice had started publication reached Eastern Turkestan, Inner Mongolia and Tibet, it created joy among them. The Common Voice is essentially a tragic voice. It is the voice of our countrymen in Eastern Turkestan, Inner Mongolia and Tibet, who are faced with the danger of systematic assimilation aimed at the elimination of their cultures and beliefs.

At present, the inter-marriages encouraged by the Chinese leaders, the coercive birth control imposed on our peoples, and the steady flow of Chinese settlers pose the biggest threat to the survival of our peoples.

The ever-growing chinese population has also brought unemployment, hunger and disaster to the peoples of Eastern Turkestan, Inner Mongolia and Tibet.

Fundamental individual human rights and freedoms of our peoples, including civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, continue to be violated by the Chinese Communists.

Our peoples, seeking only to live with dignity, continue to be killed, tortured and imprisoned on political grounds. Ruthless and repressive measures are being adopted to silence our peoples' aspirations for freedom and justice.

Our peoples have waged a non-violent struggle for four decades with strong determination.

Your concern for the plight of our peoples and your support for our legitimate rights not only give us renewed courage, but reminds China that the world cares about our peoples and will not allow China to suppress them without being accountable to the international community.

Isa Yusuf Alptekin
Istanbul
Turkey