Eastern Turkestan Information Bulletin Vol. 2 No. 5
Published by Eastern Turkestan Union in Europe
Eastern Turkestan Information Bulletin Vol. 2 No. 5 (October 1992)
EASTERN TURKESTAN CULTURAL POLICY
Despite the claim by officials of China that a cultural policy has been introduced in Eastern Turkestan, athe Turkic people there lack a modern literature. Only 16 percent of publications in Eastern Turkestan are in Turkic languages. There is not even a modern encyclopedia in a Turkic language nor are there contemporary Turkic dictionaries or scientific books.
Most scientific scholars are Chinese. They write books on Turkic history, culture, civilization, archeology, folklore, traditions, etc. All these publications serve one aim: falsifying history to prove that Eastern Turkestan belonged since the Stone Age to China and undermining Turkic beliefs, culture and traditions. This situation causes tension in China as a whole and in Eastern Turkestan in particular. For instance, in April 1987, hundreds of Kazakh students from six colleges, including the Ili Teachers College, went on strike to protest the publication in October 1987 of the novel "White House in the Distance" in a Chinese writer's literary bimonthly. In the view of the Kazakh students the depiction of a fickle and lascivious Kazakh woman toward the end of the last century distorted the habits and customs of Kazakhs and insulted the pride of Turkic people.
In December 1988 hundreds of Uighur students staged a march in Beijing to protest the showing of two films of historical fiction that the Uighur students found disrespectful to the Uighur race. One of the films was about the 18th century Uighur heroine, Ipar Han, who fought together with her husband, Jihangir Khoja, the ruler of Eastern Turkestan, against the Manchu-Chinese. When she was captured by the Manchu-Chinese emperor Chien-Lung, she killed herself rather than marry him. For this she is honored by the Uighurs as the "Mother of Uighur Pride". The historical facts had been distorted by the film's Chinese makers.
The book Sex Habits, published by the Shanghai Cultural House, has seriously besmirched Islam, harmed religious feelings and created resentment among Muslims in China. In May 1989, thousands of Muslims staged protest marches in Beijing, Xian, Lanzhou, Qinghai and in several cities in Eastern Turkestan. Thousands of Turkic people staging a protest march in Eastern Turkestan's capital Urumchi stormed the seats of the Regional Party Committee, Regional People's Congress Standing Committee, Regional Advisory Committee, and the Regional Discipline Inspection Committee, creating one of the most serious disturbances since the Chinese Communist takeover of Eastern Turkestan. During the resulting clashes with security forces three people were killed, 152 people were wounded and 53 cars were burnt.
Fearing persecution, Turkic scholars are hesitant to write on any topic which is not of interest to the Chinese Communist Party. If a Turkic scholar writes about Uighur history, culture or civilization he is accused of propagating " nationalism, separatism" and endangering the unity of the Chinese people and the great motherland. These scholars are punished, their works banned and their publishing houses closed.
In May last year, for example, Chinese authorities launched a scathing attack on three books, The Hun, Ancient Uighur Literature and The Uighur People, published in Eastern Turkestan. The books were denounced for trying to break up the country and create an independent Eastern Turkestan. Although printed by a government publishing house, the books have been banned. The books were accused of brazenly advocating independence, agitating for splitting the country and harming ethnic unity and damaging the unity of the motherland.
The harshest attack was leveled against The Uighur People by Turgun Almas, a veteran Uighur writer living in Eastern Turkestan. It is reported that Turgun Almas has been under house arrest since then.
The Uighurs of Eastern Turkestan remain without a modern history book of their own.
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MASSACRE ACKNOWLEDGED
After visiting wild animal protection zones in six different prefectures of Eastern Turkestan some members of the Eastern Turkestan Regional People's Congress have acknowledged the large scale massacre of rare animals carried out by the illegal Chinese hunters.
In their report, the members of the Regional People's Congress pointed out the main reasons for the massacre of rare animals include illegal Chinese hunting, central government plans to settle Chinese in this country, and the unlimited trade in rare animal hides, bones, kidneys, sexual organs, blood, antlers etc.
The report said Eastern Turkestan is home to several varieties of the rarest animals on earth. About ten percent of all higher animal species are found there, but nowadays most of the rarer species are on the verge of total extinction.
In its June 1992 issue, Eastern Turkestan Information gave lengthy information on this rare animal massacre.
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BAREN ORGANIZERS CONVICTED
Fifty Eastern Turkestanis charged with taking part in the April 1990 Baren uprising have been convicted after a trial in the city court of Artush. Seventeen of them were sentenced to death. The rest were given prison sentences of between three and 20 years. Witnesses said almost one thousand Turkic and 600 Chinese died in the uprisings.
A 70 year-old Eastern Turkestani whose son, Abdullah Verdi, was sentenced to death, protested the Chinese dominated court saying, "the decision of the court was unjust, it does not reflect the law, but the feelings of the Chinese, after this unjust decision I am ready to sacrifice my two other sons for the just cause of Eastern Turkestan. For these words, the court sentenced him to 20 years imprisonment.
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NEW ECONOMIC ZONE
Shihezi, a Chinese populated city in Eastern Turkestan has been declared a new economic zone. Built for Chinese settlers in the l950s, Shihezi is situated between Urumchi and Gulja, near the border with Kazakhstan. The zone is conveniently located and has a stable supply of water, electricity, and gas; it also possesses advanced postal and telecommunications facilities. The area planned for the Shihezi Economy and Technology Development Zone covers seven square kilometers. It is in the vicinity of 18 modern state-run agricultural and animal husbandry farms at the regimental level and over 301 industrial enterprises, including manufacturing vehicles enterprises
The .new economic zone had been planned for Gulja near the Kazakh border. Fearing unwelcome influences from newly independent Central Asian republics, however, the Chinese amended their plans and decided to establish the zone in the Chinese-dominated city of Shihezi.
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NEW LITERACY CAMPAIGN
The Standing Committee of the Regional People's Congress have adopted a regulation to fight illiteracy in Eastern Turkestan. After 40 years of Chinese Communist rule in Eastern Turkestan the illiteracy rate in the country is estimated to be almost 60 per cent among the adult population. The new regulation requires that except for those with learning disabilities, all illiterate and functionally illiterate citizens aged between 15 and 40 living in Eastern Turkestan must join literacy study programs. Illiterate and functionally illiterate citizens over 40 years of age are also encouraged to join literacy study programs.
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MONGOLIA SIGNS TRADE PACT
A delegation from Mongolia, signed two barter trade agreements in Urumchi, one with Eastern Turkestan Food and Edible Oil Import-Export Company and the other with the Eastern Turkestan Machinery, Chemical, Hardware, Mineral and Light Industry Goods Import-Export Company.
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SECOND ROAD TO KAZAKHSTAN
A temporary highway for passenger traffic between Bore-Tala north of Gulja in Eastern Turkestan and Alma Ata in Kazakhstan has been opened recently. The road is 260 km long and passes through the Dzungarian Alatau mountain pass. According to an agreement between the two countries, each side will send two regular passenger busses per month to the other side. In addition, in the border area, each day one bus will go 12 km on the other side of the border. This is the second new cross border route between Eastern Turkestan and Kazakhstan. Another border post at Korgas, near Gulja, was opened in the 1980s.
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VISITORS IN EASTERN TURKESTAN:
IRANIAN PRESIDENT
Iranian President Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani recently visited Eastern Turkestan. He was met at the Urumchi airport by Tomur Dawamet, chairman of the regional government. At a reception given in his honor at the Eastern Turkestan Hall President Rafsanjani said, "We are willing to foster economic, commercial, scientific and technological, and cultural exchanges with Eastern Turkestan. We are also ready to encourage Iranian enterprises in developing economic cooperation with the region.
President Rafsanjani also said that the establishment of a railway connection between Iran and Eastern Turkestan via Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan and creation of an air link will enable trade between two parties to be expanded further. Before leaving Eastern Turkestan, President Rafsanjani visited the historical city of Kashgar and in Urumchi he paid a visit to the Islamic Center.
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KYRGYZ PRIME MINISTER
A 14-member delegation from the Republic of Kyrgyzstan visited Eastern Turkestan recently at the invitation of the Chinese government. The delegation was led by Kyrgyz Prime Minister Chingyshev. Qi Huaiyuan, director of the office of foreign affairs of the state council, made a special trip to Urumchi at the request of Chinese Prime Minister Li Peng to meet the Kyrgyz Premier. The result of the talks between the two were not disclosed.
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KAZAKH FOREIGN MINISTER
Kazakh Foreign Minister Suleymanov recently visited Eastern Turkestan to expand the relations between the two countries.
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NEW UIGHUR PARTY IN KYRGYZSTAN
In June the founding congress was held in Bishkek, capital of Kyrgyzstan, of a new party called "For a Free Uighuristan." According to Radio Rossi, which reported the new party's establishment, it has set as one of its objectives the creation of an independent state in Eastern Turkestan.
The creation of such a party is no surprise given the number of Uighurs living in Kazakhstan and Kyrgzstan. The example of the independent Central Asian states could hardly avoid inspiring Uighurs in Eastern Turkestan as well as in the new states with hopes that they too can have an independent state.
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UIGHUR UNION RECOGNIZED
The government of Kazakhstan has officially approved the International Uighur Union in the Commonwealth of Independent States. The union, formed on January 16 of this year, has been waiting for official approval from the Kazakh government in order to start its activities. Retired Lieutenant-colonel Kehriman Khojamberdiev was elected chairman of the organization. The aims of the newly recognized union, an umbrella organization for Eastern Turkestani groups throughout the CIS, are democracy, human rights and self-determination for Uighurs living in Eastern Turkestan.
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EASTERN TURKESTANIS DOWN UNDER
Eastern Turkestanis living in Australia have established an organization to be known as the Australian-Eastern Turkestan Association. Ahmet Igemberdi, and ethnic Uighur scholar who immigrated to Australia in 1981, has been elected as the president of the association. The main aim of the organization is to strive for self-determination of the people of Eastern Turkestan.
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CAN ATTENDS URANIUM HEARING
Enver Can, vice chairman of the Eastern Turkestan Cultural Center in Europe attended the World Uranium Hearing held in Salzburg, Austria, September 15 1992. Mr. Can, who attended the hearing as an observer, presented the participants a memorandum drawing attention to the damage caused by Chinese atomic tests in Eastern Turkestan.
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VICTIMS OF RADIOACTIVITY
A high-level Uighur delegation led by Yusufbek Muhlisi, chairman of the Eastern Turkestan National Committee in Alma Ata, attended the World Radioactive Victims Conference held in Berlin September 20-25. Mr. Muhlisi presented a paper at the conference describing the damage of the Chinese atomic tests in Eastern Turkestan. According to him almost 200,000 Eastern Turkestanis have died as a direct effect of radio-active fallout.
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KAYSERI CONFERENCE
The Eastern Turkestan Cultural and Relief Organization in Kayseri, Turkey, held a one day conference on September 19, 1992. Mehmet Canturk, chairman of the organization, in his opening speech accused the Chinese of deliberately, persecuting the Turkic peoples of Eastern Turkestan. He said that a policy of coercive birth control was being forced upon the Turkic peoples of Eastern Turkestan. Those who did not obey the regulations, he said, are treated like terrorists by the Chinese authorities. He said the long term goal of the policy was to wipe out the Eastern Turkestanis.
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KAZAKH SCHOLAR SPEAKS OUT
China's assimilation policy in Eastern Turkestan, Tibet and Inner Mongolia came under criticism at an international conference opened in Alma Ata on September 4. Kazakh demographer Makash Tatimov told the conference that the Chinese were pumping their own excess population into Eastern Turkestan, Tibet and Inner Mongolia. This policy, he said, did not merely upset the demographic balance in these regions but endangered the very existence of the Turkic, Tibetan and Mongolian national identities and cultures in these areas. Tatimov said that the coercive birth control policies of the Chinese were also aimed at the elimination of these peoples.
Tatimov accused China of following a double-faced policy towards the newly independent republics of Central Asia. On the one hand Bejing pursues closer political, economic and cultural ties with these countries, while on the other hand its policies persecute the same nationalities living under Chinese domination.
Tatimov pointed out that not a single Turkic scholar from Eastern Turkestan had been allowed to attend the Alma Ata conference. He suggested that the Central Asian republics with who China sought closer ties ought to demand that improved relations be conditional upon China's demonstration of respect for the essential rights not only of the Turkic peoples of Eastern Turkestan but of Tibetan and Inner Mongolian peoples as well.
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PRESS REVIEW
The Swiss newspaper Neue Zuercher Zeitung in its October 11/12 issue included a report by Juergen Kahl, correspondent in China, on the current situation in Eastern Turkestan. The article, which had been already published in the German paper Sueddeutsche Zeitung, emphasized the diverse ethnic makeup of Eastern Turkestan and focused especially on the Uighurs, the largest ethnic group in the region. Kahl's account includes the many problems facing the Uighurs and other indigenous groups in a society in which most institutional and political authority is tightly controlled by China, but it makes clear that the national pride and spirit of hope among the peoples of Eastern Turkestan has not yet been extinguished.
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ATTENTION SCHOLARS
A guide to scholars working on topics in the history and culture of Central Asia is being compiled by John Schoeberlein-Engel (Harvard University) and Oleg Panfilov (Tajikistan), in an effort to help promote contacts and communication among the community of specialists in this field. To this end, information has already been compiled on most of the scholars in countries of the former Soviet Union. When corresponding data has been collected from other countries, the Guide will be published and made available for anyone who would like a copy.
The Guide's region of focus is primarily the Central Asia Republics of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, but as the broader region is culturally very much an integrated whole, scholars working on closely related areas, such as Eastern Turkestan and (northern) Afghanistan, are encouraged to participate.
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Eastern Turkestan Information is published by The Eastern Turkestan
Cultural and Social Association (ETCSA), established January 11, 1991 in
Munich, Germany. It is intended to offer information on the current
situation in Eastern Turkestan, its people, culture and civilization, as
well as provide an objective forum for discussion on a wide range of
topics and complex issues.
Eastern Turkestan Information is published by The Eastern Turkestan Cultural and Social Association (ETCSA), established January 11, 1991 in Munich, Germany. It is intended to offer information on the current situation in Eastern Turkestan, its people, culture and civilization, as well as provide an objective forum for discussion on a wide range of topics and complex issues.
We welcome contributions of news items, features, comments and letters to the editor. We cannot guarantee publication of all submissions; however, we will do our best to accommodate as many as possible. All submissions will be subject to editing for purposes of clarity and propriety. ETI does not accept responsibility for the views expressed in signed articles that appear in its pages. Full acknowledgment should be given to all material quoted from or based on this publication.
All inquiries and contributions should be addressed to Eastern Turkestan Information, Asgar Can, Editor, Nanga-Parbat Str. 17A, 8000 Munich, Germany.
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Last updated 06/29/99