The Xinjiang conflict is an ongoing
separatist conflict in the People's
Republic of China's far-west province of
Xinjiang. Uyghur separatists and
independence movements claim that the
region, which they refer to as East
Turkestan, is not a part of China, but
that the Soviet supported Second East
Turkestan Republic was incorporated by
the PRC in 1949 and has since been under
Chinese occupation. The East Turkestan
independence movement is led by Turkic
Islamist militant organizations, most
notably the East Turkestan Islamic
Movement, against the national
government in Beijing.
History 
The area known as Xinjiang had been a
protectorate of China as early as 60 BC
during the Han dynasty when it was part
of the Protectorate of the Western
Regions and also a protectorate of Tang
dynasty China when it was part of the
Protectorate General to Pacify the West,
though there are numerous periods of
independence from China. The historical
area of what is modern day Xinjiang
consisted of the distinct areas of the
Tarim Basin and Dzungaria, and was
originally populated by Indo-European
Tocharian and Iranic Saka peoples who
practiced the Buddhist religion. The
area was subjected to Turkification and
Islamification at the hands of invading
Turkic Muslims during the Islamicisation
and Turkicisation of Xinjiang. In the
18th century the Qing Dynasty
reorganized the territory as a province,
Xinjiang.
Previous uprisings 
The Xinjiang Wars were a series of armed
conflicts which took place in the early
and mid 20th century, during the Warlord
Era of the Republic of China; and during
the Chinese Civil War, which saw the
establishment of the People's Republic
of China. The wars also played an
important role in the East Turkestan
independence movement.
After the establishment of the Soviet
Union, many Uyghurs who studied in
Soviet Central Asia added Russian
suffixes to Russify their surnames and
make them look Russian. Urban Uyghurs
sometimes select Russian names when
naming their children, in cities such as
Qaramay and Urumqi.
The Soviet Union supported the Uyghur
Second East Turkestan Republic in the
Ili Rebellion against the Republic of
China. Many of the Turkic peoples of the
Ili region of Xinjiang had close
cultural, political, and economic ties
with the Russian Empire and then the
Soviet Union. Many of them were educated
in the Soviet Union and a community of
Russian settlers lived in the region. As
a result, many of the Turkic rebels fled
to the Soviet Union and obtained Soviet
assistance in creating the Sinkiang
Turkic People's Liberation Committee in
1943 to revolt against Kuomintang rule
during the Ili Rebellion. The pro-Soviet
Uyghur who later became leader of the
revolt and the Second East Turkestan
Republic, Ehmetjan Qasim, was Soviet
educated and described as "Stalin's man"
and as a "communist-minded progressive".
According to her autobiography, Dragon
Fighter: One Woman's Epic Struggle for
Peace with China, the Uyghur activist
Rebiya Kadeer's father served with
pro-Soviet Uyghur rebels under the
Second East Turkestan Republic in the
Ili Rebellion in 1944–1946, using Soviet
assistance and aid to fight the Republic
of China government under Chiang
Kai-shek. Kadeer and her family were
close friends with White Russian exiles
living in Xinjiang and Kadeer recalled
that many Uyghurs thought Russian
culture was "more advanced" than that of
the Uyghurs and they "respected" the
Russians a lot.
Immediate causes 
Amnesty International and Human Rights
Watch speculate that Uyghur resentment
towards repression of Uyghur culture may
explain some of the ethnic riots that
have occurred in Xinjiang during the
People's Republic of China period.
Conversely, some Han Chinese opponents
of the movement are unhappy at being, in
their perspective, treated as
second-class citizens by PRC policies,
in which many of the ethnic autonomy
policies are discriminatory against
them. Some go so far as to posit that
since previous Chinese dynasties owned
Xinjiang before the Uyghur Empire, the
region belongs to them as opposed to the
Uyghurs. Supporters of the movement, on
the other hand, have labelled Chinese
rule in Xinjiang, as Chinese
imperialism.
Uyghur nationalist historians such as
Turghun Almas claim that Uyghurs were
distinct and independent from Chinese
for 6000 years, and that all non-Uyghur
peoples are non-indigenous immigrants to
Xinjiang. However, the Han Dynasty
established military colonies and
commanderies to control Xinjiang from
120 BCE, while the Tang Dynasty also
controlled much of Xinjiang until the An
Lushan rebellion. Chinese historians
refute Uyghur nationalist claims by
pointing out the 2000-year history of
Han settlement in Xinjiang, documenting
the history of Mongol, Kazakh, Uzbek,
Manchu, Hui, Xibo indigenes in Xinjiang,
and by emphasizing the relatively late
"westward migration" of the Huigu people
from Mongolia the 9th century. The name
"Uyghur" was associated with a Buddhist
people in the Tarim Basin in the 9th
century, but completely disappeared by
the 15th century, until it was revived
by the Soviet Union in the 20th century.
Uyghur nationalists often incorrectly
claim that 5% of Xinjiang's population
in 1949 was Han, and that the other 95%
was Uyghur, erasing the presence of
Kazakhs, Huis, Mongols, |Xibes and
others, and ignoring the fact that Hans
were around one third of Xinjiang's
population in 1800, during the time of
the Qing Dynasty. Uyghur separatist
activist Rebiya Kadeer claims Urumqi is
"Uyghur land". The name Urumqi came from
the Dzungar Oirat language. Professor of
Chinese and Central Asian History at
Georgetown University, James A. Millward
wrote that foreigners often mistakenly
think that Urumqi was originally a
Uyghur city and that the Chinese
destroyed its Uyghur character and
culture, however, Urumqi was founded as
a Chinese city by Han and Hui, and it is
the Uyghurs who are new to the city.
While a few people try to give a
misportrayal of the historical Qing
situation in light of the contemporary
situation in Xinjiang with Han
migration, and claim that the Qing
settlements and state farms were an
anti-Uyghur plot to replace them in
their land, Professor James A. Millward
pointed out that the Qing agricultural
colonies in reality had nothing to do
with Uyghur and their land, since the
Qing banned settlement of Han in the
Uyghur Tarim Basin and in fact directed
the Han settlers instead to settle in
the non-Uyghur Dzungaria and the new
city of Urumqi, so that the state farms
which were settled with 155,000 Han
Chinese from 1760 to 1830 were all in
Dzungaria and Urumqi, where there was
only an insignificant amount of Uyghurs,
instead of the Tarim Basin oases. Han
and Hui mostly live in northern
Xinjiang, and are separated from areas
of historical Uyghur dominance south of
the Tian Shan mountains, where Uyghurs
account for about 90% of the population.
At the start of the 19th century, 40
years after the Qing reconquest, there
were around 155,000 Han and Hui Chinese
in northern Xinjiang and somewhat more
than twice that number of Uyghurs in
southern Xinjiang. A census of Xinjiang
under Qing rule in the early 19th
century tabulated ethnic shares of the
population as 30% Han and 60% Turkic,
while it dramatically shifted to 6% Han
and 75% Uyghur in the 1953 census,
however a situation similar to the Qing
era-demographics with a large number of
Han has been restored as of 2000 with
40.57% Han and 45.21% Uyghur. Professor
Stanley W. Toops noted that today's
demographic situation is similar to that
of the early Qing period in Xinjiang. In
northern Xinjiang, the Qing brought in
Han, Hui, Uyghur, Xibe, and Kazakh
colonists after they exterminated the
Zunghar Oirat Mongols in the region,
with one third of Xinjiang's total
population consisting of Hui and Han in
the northern are, while around two
thirds were Uyghurs in southern
Xinjiang's Tarim Basin. Before 1831,
only a few hundred Chinese merchants
lived in southern Xinjiang oases and
only a few Uyghurs lived in northern
Xinjiang.
Critics have argued that the
government's response to Uyghur concerns
do little to address the underlying
causes of their discontent.
Uyghur views by oasis 
Uyghur views vary by the oasis they live
in. China has historically favored
Turpan and Hami. Uyghurs in Turfan and
Hami and their leaders like Emin Khoja
allied with the Qing against Uyghurs in
Altishahr. During the Qing dynasty,
China enfeoffed the rulers of Turpan and
Hami as autonomous princes, while the
rest of the Uyghurs in Altishahr were
ruled by Begs. Uyghurs from Turpan and
Hami were appointed by China as
officials to rule over Uyghurs in the
Tarim Basin. Turpan is more economically
prosperous and views China more
positively than the rebellious Kashgar,
which is the most anti-China oasis.
Uyghurs in Turpan are treated leniently
and favourably by China with regards to
religious policies, while Kashgar is
subjected to controls by the government.
In Turpan and Hami, religion is viewed
more positively by China than religion
in Kashgar and Khotan in southern
Xinjiang. Both Uyghur and Han Communist
officials in Turpan turn a blind eye to
the law and allow religious Islamic
education for Uyghur children.
Celebrating at religious functions and
going on Hajj to Mecca is encouraged by
the Chinese government, for Uyghur
members of the Communist party. From
1979 to 1989, 350 mosques were built in
Turpan. Han, Hui, and the Chinese
government are viewed much more
positively by Uyghurs specifically in
Turpan, with the government providing
better economic, religious, and
political treatment for them. There were
20,000 mosques representing a 5.8 times
of increase in total in Xinjiang in
1989. Until separatist disturbances
flared in 1996, China was lenient and
allowed people to ignore the rule
prohibiting government officials from
observing religion. New, big mosques
have been financially assisted in being
built by the Chinese government in
Urumqi. While in southern Xinjiang China
implements strong rules regarding
religion, in Urumqi, China treats the
Uyghurs and religion lax and
permissively.
Restrictions 
In Xinjiang, Communist Party members and
civil servants who are employees of the
government are not allowed to
participate in religious activities
while ordinary private citizens are
allowed to practice religion and fast in
Ramadan, students in public government
directed schools are discouraged from
participating in religious activities
but not banned from doing so, the policy
pertains to all religions- members of
the Communist party are not allowed to
carry out Daoist practices like Feng
Shui.
The suppression of the Uyghurs has more
to do with the fact that they are
separatist, rather than Muslim. China
banned a book titled "Xing Fengsu" which
insulted Islam and placed its authors
under arrest in 1989 after protests in
Lanzhou and Beijing by Chinese Hui
Muslims, during which the Chinese police
provided protection to the Hui Muslim
protestors, and the Chinese government
organized public burnings of the book.
The Chinese government assisted them and
gave into their demands because Hui do
not have a separatist movement, unlike
the Uyghurs, Hui Muslim protestors who
violently rioted by vandalizing property
during the protests against the book
were let off by the Chinese government
and went unpunished while Uyghur
protestors were imprisoned.
Although religious education for
children is officially forbidden by law
in China, the Communist party allows Hui
Muslims to violate this law and have
their children educated in religion and
attend Mosques while the law is enforced
on Uyghurs. After secondary education is
completed, China then allows Hui
students who are willing to embark on
religious studies under an Imam. China
does not enforce the law against
children attending Mosques on
non-Uyghurs in areas outside of
Xinjiang. Since the 1980s Islamic
private schools have been supported and
permitted by the Chinese government
among Muslim areas, only specifically
excluding Xinjiang from allowing these
schools because of separatist sentiment
there.
Hui Muslims who are employed by the
state are allowed to fast during Ramadan
unlike Uyghurs in the same positions,
the amount of Hui going on Hajj is
expanding, and Hui women are allowed to
wear veils, while Uyghur women are
discouraged from wearing them.
Different Muslim ethnic groups in
different regions are treated
differently by the Chinese government in
regards to religious freedom. Religious
freedom is present for Hui Muslims, who
can practice their religion, build
Mosques, and have their children attend
Mosques, while more controls are placed
specifically on Uyghurs in Xinjiang.
Hui religious schools are allowed and a
massive autonomous network of mosques
and schools run by a Hui Sufi leader was
formed with the approval of the Chinese
government even as he admitted to
attending an event where Bin Laden
spoke.
"The Diplomat" reported on the fact that
while Uyghur's religious activities are
curtailed, Hui Muslims are granted
widespread religious freedom and that
therefore the policy of the Chinese
government towards Uyghurs in Xinjiang
is not directed against Islam, but
rather aggressively stamping out the
Uyghur separatist threat.
The Uyghur terrorist organization East
Turkestan Islamic Movement's magazine
Islamic Turkistan has accused the
Chinese "Muslim Brotherhood" of being
responsible for the moderation of Hui
Muslims and the lack of Hui joining
terrorist jihadist groups in addition to
blaming other things for the lack of Hui
Jihadists, such as the fact that for
more than 300 years Hui and Uyghurs have
been enemies of each other, no
separatist Islamist organizations among
the Hui, the fact that the Hui view
China as their home, and the fact that
the "infidel Chinese" language is the
language of the Hui.
Even among Hui Salafis and Uyghur
Salafis, there is little coordination or
cooperation and the two take totally
different political agendas, with the
Hui Salafists content to carry out their
own teachings and remain politically
neutral.
Reactions 
Arab countries politically supported
China in the OIC with especially Saudi
Arabia and Egypt helping China squash
any potential anti-Chinese motion by the
Organisation of Islamic Cooperation on
the Uyghurs, Egypt viewed its own
internal sectarian problems like China's
and Sudan was also concerned about
external interference in its internal
problems as well, while Indonesia had to
deal with its own internal Islamists and
emphasized that there was no religious
conflict but instead ethnic based
disturbances in Xinjiang to calm the
situation down. Pakistan, Saudi Arabia,
and Egypt helped China kill off a
statement on the Xinjiang situation in
the OIC. There has been no public
reaction by the Arab League, Saudi
Arabia and Iran on the situation and
China has built stronger relations with
Iran and Saudi Arabia due to their
influence in the Islamic world.
Malaysia deported Uyghurs back to China
at China's request and ignored calls to
halt the deportation.
Pakistan outlawed the Islamic Jihad
Union, Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan
and the East Turkistan Islamic Movement
in 2013.
The United Arab Emirates declared the
East Turkistan Islamic Movement as a
terrorist organization in 2014.
Rebiya Kadeer claimed that Turkey is
hampered from interfering with Uyghurs
because it recognizes that its own
Kurdish issue may get interfered with by
China in retaliation. An appeal for
Chinese products to be boycotted by
Nihat Ergun failed in 2009.
Infighting between Uyghur separatists 
Anwar Yusuf Turani set up the "East
Turkistan Government in Exile".
Rebiya Kadeer accused the East Turkistan
government in exile of being agents of
China.
Timeline 
= Early events =
Some put the beginning of the modern
phase of the conflict in Xinjiang in the
1950s.
= Soviet support for Uyghur uprisings =
The Soviet Union incited separatist
activities in Xinjiang through
propaganda, encouraging Kazakhs to flee
to the Soviet Union and attack China.
China responded by reinforcing the
Xinjiang-Soviet border area specifically
with Han Bingtuan militia and farmers.
The Soviets massively intensified their
broadcasts inciting Uyghurs to revolt
against the Chinese via Radio Tashkent
since 1967 and directly harbored and
supported separatist guerilla fighters
to attack the Chinese border, in 1966
the amount of Soviet sponsored
separatist attacks on China numbered
5,000. The Soviets doubled Uighur
language broadcasts of Radio Tashkent in
1967. The Soviets transmitted a radio
broadcast from Radio Tashkent into
Xinjiang on 14 May 1967, boasting of the
fact that the Soviets had supported the
Second East Turkestan Republic against
China. In addition to Radio Tashkent,
other Soviet media outlets aimed at
disseminating propaganda towards Uyghurs
urging that they proclaim independence
and revolt against China included Radio
Alma-Ata and the Alma-Ata published
Sherki Türkistan Evazi newspaper. After
the Sino-Soviet split in 1962, over
60,000 Uyghurs and Kazakhs defected from
Xinjiang to the Kazakh Soviet Socialist
Republic, in response to Soviet
propaganda which promised Xinjiang
independence. Uyghur exiles later
threatened China with rumors of a Uyghur
"liberation army" in the thousands that
were supposedly recruited from
Sovietized emigres.
The Soviet Union was involved in funding
and support to the East Turkestan
People's Revolutionary Party, the
largest militant Uyghur separatist
organization in its time, to start a
violent uprising against China in 1968.
In the 1970s, the Soviets also supported
the United Revolutionary Front of East
Turkestan to fight against the Chinese.
"Bloody incidents" in 1966-67 flared up
as Chinese and Soviet forces clashed
along the border as the Soviets trained
anti-Chinese guerillas and urged Uyghurs
to revolt against China, hailing their
"national liberation struggle". On
January 30, 1967, it was reported that
in Xinjiang, guerilla attacks were being
carried out by a "Soviet-based Turkestan
refugee army." In 1969, Chinese and
Soviet forces directly fought each other
along the Xinjiang-Soviet border.
The Soviet Union supported Uyghur
nationalist propaganda and Uyghur
separatist movements against China. The
Soviet historians claimed that the
Uyghur native land was Xinjiang and
Uyghur nationalism was promoted by
Soviet versions of history on turcology.
Soviet turcologists like D.I. Tikhonov
wrote pro-independence works on Uyghur
history and the Soviet supported Uyghur
historian Tursun Rakhimov wrote more
historical works supporting Uyghur
independence and attacking the Chinese
government, claiming that Xinjiang was
an entity created by China made out of
the different parts of East Turkestan
and Zungharia. These Soviet Uyghur
historians were waging an "ideological
war" against China, emphasizing the
"national liberation movement" of
Uyghurs throughout history. The Soviet
Communist Party supported the
publication of works which glorified the
Second East Turkestan Republic and the
Ili Rebellion against China in its
anti-China propaganda war. Soviet
propaganda writers wrote works claiming
that Uyghurs lived better lives and were
able to practice their culture only in
Soviet Central Asia and not in Xinjiang.
In 1979 Soviet KGB agent Victor Louis
wrote a thesis claiming that the Soviets
should support a "war of liberation"
against the "imperial" China to support
Uighur, Tibetan, Mongol, and Manchu
independence. The Soviet KGB itself
supported Uyghur separatists against
China. Among some Uyghurs, the Soviet
Union was viewed extremely favorably and
several of them believed that people of
Turkic origin ruled the Soviet Union,
claiming that one of these Turkic Soviet
leaders was Mikhail Gorbachev.
Uyghur nationalist historian Turghun
Almas and his book Uyghurlar and Uyghur
nationalist accounts of history were
galvanized by Soviet stances on history,
"firmly grounded" in Soviet Turcological
works, and both heavily influenced and
partially created by Soviet historians
and Soviet works on Turkic peoples.
Soviet historiography spawned the
rendering of Uyghur history found in
Uyghurlar. Almas claimed that Central
Asia was "the motherland of the Uyghurs"
and also the "ancient golden cradle of
world culture".
Xinjiang's importance to China increased
after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan
in 1979, leading to China's perception
of being encircled by the Soviets. China
supported the Afghan mujahideen during
the Soviet invasion, and broadcast
reports of Soviet atrocities on Afghan
Muslims to Uyghurs in order to counter
Soviet propaganda broadcasts into
Xinjiang, which boasted that Soviet
minorities lived better and incited
Muslims to revolt. Chinese radio beamed
anti-Soviet broadcasts to Central Asian
ethnic minorities like the Kazakhs. The
Soviets feared disloyalty among the
non-Russian Kazakh, Uzbek, and Kyrgyz in
the event of Chinese troops attacking
the Soviet Union and entering Central
Asia. Russians were goaded with the
taunt "Just wait till the Chinese get
here, they'll show you what's what!" by
Central Asians when they had
altercations. The Chinese authorities
viewed the Han migrants in Xinjiang as
vital to defending the area against the
Soviet Union. China opened up camps to
train the Afghan Mujahideen near Kashgar
and Khotan and supplied them with
hundreds of millions of dollars worth of
small arms, rockets, mines, and
anti-tank weapons.
In the 1980s, there was a scattering of
student demonstrations and riots against
police action that took on an ethnic
aspect; and the Baren Township riot in
April, 1990, an abortive uprising,
resulted in more than 50 deaths.
= Late 1990s =
A police round-up and execution of 30
suspected separatists during Ramadan
resulted in large demonstrations in
February 1997 which were characterized
as riots in the Chinese media, but which
the western media allege were peaceful.
These demonstrations culminated in the
Gulja Incident on the 5th of February,
in which a People's Liberation Army
crackdown on the demonstrations led to
at least nine deaths and perhaps more
than 100. The Ürümqi bus bombings of
February 25, 1997 killed nine and
injured 68. The situation in Xinjiang
was relatively quiet from the late
nineties through mid-2006, though
inter-ethnic tensions no doubt remained.
A chain of aggressive and belligerent
press releases in the 1990s making false
claims about violent insurrections in
Xinjiang, and exaggerating both the
number of Chinese migrants and the total
number of Uyghurs in Xinjiang were made
by the former Soviet supported URFET
leader Yusupbek Mukhlisi.
In 1997 the Ghulja Incident occurred as
a result of a series of demonstrations.
= 2007 onwards =
In 2007, the world's attention was
brought to the conflict following the
Xinjiang raid on an alleged terrorist
training camp, a thwarted 2008 suicide
bombing attempt on a China Southern
Airlines flight, and the 2008 Xinjiang
attack, which resulted in the deaths of
sixteen police officers four days before
the Beijing Olympics. See 2008 Uyghur
unrest for further details.
On 25/26 June 2009, the Shaoguan
incident occurred in Guangdong province.
Further incidents include the July 2009
Ürümqi riots, the September 2009
Xinjiang unrest, and the 2010 Aksu
bombing that led to the trials of 376
people. The 2011 Hotan attack in July
led to the deaths of 18 civilians.
Although all of the attackers were
Uyghur, both Han and Uyghur people were
victims. In 2011, six ethnic Uyghur men
attempted to hijack an aircraft heading
to Ürümqi, but failed after passengers
and crew resisted and restrained the
hijackers. In 2011, a series of knife
and bomb attacks occurred.
On 28 December 2011, the Pishan hostage
crisis occurred.
On 28 February 2012, the 2012 Yecheng
attack occurred.
On 24 April 2013, clashes in Bachu
occurred between a group of armed men
and social workers, then with police
near Kashgar. The violence left at least
21 people dead, including 15 police and
officials. A local government official
said that the clashes broke out after
three local officials had reported
suspicious men armed with knives who
were hiding at a house in Selibuya
township, outside Kashgar. On 30 April
2014, a knife attack and bombing
occurred in Ürümqi.
Two months later, on 26 June 2013, 27
people were killed in Shanshan riots; 17
of them were killed by rioters, while
the other ten people were alleged
assailants who were shot dead by police
in the township of Lukqun.
On 1 March 2014, a group of
knife-wielding assailants attacked
people at the Kunming Railway Station
killing at least 29 and injuring 130
others. China blamed Xinjiang militants
for the attack. Over 380 were arrested
in the following crackdown and four
people were charged on June 30 for the
incident, in which 29 people were killed
and 140 injured. Three of the suspects
were accused of "leading and organising
a terror group, and intentional
homicide". They did not take part in the
attack as they were arrested two days
before. On September 12, a Chinese court
sentenced three people to death and one
to life in prison for the attack, in
which 31 people were killed and 141
injured.
On 18 April 2014, a group of 16 Chinese
citizens identified as ethnic Uyghurs
engaged in a shootout with Vietnamese
border guards after seizing their guns
as they were being detained to be
returned to China. Five Uyghurs and two
Vietnamese guards died in the incident.
Ten of the Uyghurs were men and the rest
were women and children.
On 30 April 2014, two attackers stabbed
people before detonating their suicide
vests at an Ürümqi train station. Three
people, including the two attackers,
were killed.
On 22 May 2014, twin suicide car
bombings occurred after the occupants
had thrown multiple explosives out of
their vehicles at an Ürümqi street
market. The attacks killed 43 people and
injured more than 90, making it the
deadliest attack yet in the Xinjiang
conflict.
On June 5, 2014, China sentenced 9
persons to death for terrorist attacks -
they were seeking to overthrow Chinese
rule, inspired by global jihadi
ideology, in Xinjiang.
On 28 July 2014, an incident occurred in
the towns of Elixku and Huangdi in
Shache county. The Chinese state media
Xinhua said 37 civilians were killed by
a gang armed with knives and axes in
Xinjiang, with 59 attackers killed by
security forces. Xinhua said 215
attackers were arrested after they
stormed a police station and government
offices. It said 30 police cars had been
damaged or destroyed and dozens of
Uyghur and Han Chinese civilians had
been killed or injured. The incident is
disputed as the Uyghur American
Association said that local Uyghurs had
been protesting at the time of the
attack. On 30 July 2014, the imam of
China's largest mosque, Jume Tahir, in
the city of Kashgar in Xinjiang, died
after reportedly being stabbed after
morning prayers for his reported
pro-Beijing stance.
On September 21, 2014, Chinese state
media Xinhua reported a series of bomb
blasts killed in total 50 people in
Luntai County, southwest of the regional
capital, Urumqi. This consisted of 6
civilians, 4 police, and 44 'rioters' 
On October 12, 2014, four Uyghurs armed
with knives and explosives attacked a
farmers' market in northwestern China's
Xinjiang region, which according to
police, left 22 people dead - including
police officers and the attackers
themselves.
On 29 November 2014, 15 people were
killed and 14 injured in the aftermath
of an attack in the Shache county.11 of
the killed were Uyghur militants.
= Al-Qaeda support for Uyghur militants
"1- Who are we? We are a group of
workers for Islam and the Mujahideen for
the cause of Allah to save the
worshipers from the worshiping of
worshipers [so that they can] worship
the lord of the worshipers all over [the
world] in general and Turkistan in
particular. [This group] arose so that
its members could cooperate on tawhid
and purity and Allah-fearing and jihad
for the cause of Allah, so as to
liberate East Muslim Turkistan from the
infidel Communist Chinese invasion and
repulsing its invasion from religion of
the Muslims and their honor and souls
and money so as to establish Allah's
pure religion, and empowering the
Islamic Shari'a in Turkistan, and
cooperate with the Mujahideen Muslims in
the name of Allah all over the Muslim
world to restore the wise Islamic
caliphate and empower Allah's Shari'ah
on the world." - Charter of the
Turkistan Islamic Party - The Media
Center of the Turkistan Islamic Party.
"Third: Working and cooperating with all
the Jihadi groups for the cause of Allah
everywhere, so as to repulse the
invasion of the infidel from them, and
establishing Allah's Shar'iah
everywhere. “Say thou: 'This is my way:
I do invite unto Allah, - on evidence
clear as the seeing with one's eyes, - I
and whoever follows me. Glory to Allah.
and never will I join gods with Allah.'”
{Yusuf :108}" - Charter of the Turkistan
Islamic Party - The Media Center of the
Turkistan Islamic Party.
"If you do not wage jihad, you will
never be able to get rid of the
oppression of the infidels which makes
you abandon the religion and which makes
slaves of you. Thus, you will not be
able to be rescued from the oppression
of this world and the torments of the
hereafter, or find eternal happiness
until you return to the religion of
Allah... " - Abdul Haq, a commander in
the Uyghur separatist movement Turkistan
Islamic Party, from a video released by
TIP, February 9. 2009.
“We are, Allah-willing, proceeding along
this path with all of our strength in
order to rescue our oppressed brothers
in East Turkistan – and Allah-willing,
we are working on rescuing our oppressed
brothers from the hands of the
Communists until we make Allah’s
religion supreme and we live a precious
life in the shadow of Islamic Shariah
law, or else be rewarded with martyrdom
in the cause of Allah We are plotting
for the Chinese to suffer the torture of
Allah, or else by our hands ” - Abdul
Haq, leader of the Uyghur separatist
movement Turkistan Islamic Party, from
“Steadfastness and Preparations for
Jihad in the Cause of Allah.” Turkestan
Islamic Party, January 20, 2009.
“Anyone who is familiar with the battles
that the mujahideen are engaged in today
will know that the path of Jihad is the
only path to prevent attacks and
injustice [against us]... and, the
suffering of the Americans is on the
rise in Iraq due to the operations of
the mujahideen... As a result of these
operations, America was forced to
withdraw fr om Iraq, and still it has
not learned its lesson. Today, it is
once again drinking [from] the cup of
failure in Afghanistan as it gasps for
breath, [looking] to avoid defeat and
withdrawal—and now it is fighting the
dizziness of death. Those kind of
results could never have been achieved
with writings and speeches.”
“Meanwhile, with regards to the
situation in East Turkestan which was
once part of the Islamic nation and is
now under the domination of the unjust
infidel Communists, the confrontation is
still ongoing between the mujahideen and
the invading occupiers. And,
Allah-willing, the operations of the
mujahideen in East Turkestan will make
the Chinese suffer just as America
suffered in Iraq and Afghanistan, from
shame, sc andal, and defeat... In 1997,
the mujahideen of East Turkestan
gathered under the leadership of
Commander Hasan Mahsum beyond the
borders of our land, and they were
graced by ch oosing the path of training
within the shadow of the Islamic Emirate
of Afghanistan— as they were prohibited
and forbidden from doing so in their own
country because of the Chinese
occupation. We used to be able to live
in our land, and we knew the ways of
living, but we abandoned ou r homes in
order to support the oppressed and to
remove the injustices committed against
all Muslims. [We left] in order to try
and gain our sovereignty from communist
China, and for the sake of providing our
people a carefree and happy existence
under the shadow of the Quran and
Sunnah. During this period of time, a
large number of mujahideen from East
Turkestan received training... Later,
during this critical period, the Islamic
Emirate in Afghanistan was destroyed at
the hands of the Zionist-Crusader
assault launched under the lead of
America... Nonetheless, the mujahideen
of East Turkestan were able to continue
their jihadi operations even after the
collapse of the Islamic Emirate, thanks
be to Allah.” - TIP Narrator, from
“Steadfastness and Preparations for
Jihad in the Cause of Allah.” Turkestan
Islamic Party, January 20, 2009.
“We have to conquer our own country and
purify it of all infidels. Then, we
should conquer the infidels’ countries
and spread Islam. The infidels who are
usurping our countries have announced
war against Islam and Muslims, forcing
Muslims to abandon Islam and change
their beliefs.” - Abdullah Mansour,
leader of the Uyghur separatist movement
Turkistan Islamic Party, from “The Duty
of Faith and Support,” Voice of
Islam/al-Fajr Media Center, August 26,
2009.
The East Turkestan Islamic Movement is
allied with the Islamic Movement of
Uzbekistan along with the Pakistani
Taliban and Al-Qaeda.
The organization renamed itself the
Turkistan Islamic Party and abandoned
usage of the name ETIM, although China
still calls it by the name ETIM and
refuses to acknowledge it as TIP. The
Turkistan Islamic Party was originally
subordinated to the Islamic Movement of
Uzbekistan but then split off and
declared its name as TIP and started
making itself known by promoting itself
with its Islamic Turkistan magazine and
Voice of Islam media in Chinese, Arabic,
Russian, and Turkish in order to reach
out to global jihadists. Control over
the Uyghur and Uzbek militants was
transferred to the Pakistani Taliban
from the Afghan Taliban after 2001, so
violence against the militant's
countries of origins can no longer
restrained by the Afghan Taliban since
the Pakistani Taliban does not have a
stake in doing so. TIP's Ṣawt al-Islām
media arm has released many video
messages.
One of the grievances against China by
the TIP was that China implemented
female and male equality.
Al Qaeda appointed TIP member Abdul Haq
al Turkistani to their Shura Majlis. Al
Qaeda also appointed TIP member Abdul
Shakoor Turkistani as military commander
of their forces in the FATA region of
Pakistan. Uyghur detainees at Guantanamo
bay have confessed that they were
trained by Abdul Haq and Hassan Mahsum
in Afghanistan, Abdul Haq was the leader
who threatened terror attacks on the
2008 Beijing Olympics, sits on the Shura
Council of Al-Qaeda, and subscribes to
the methodology of Al-Qaeda. Al-Qaeda's
command viewed Abdul Haq as
authoritative and sent him to meet with
Taliban factions along with Al-Qaeda
commanders.
TIP issued a eulogy for Doku Umarov of
the Caucasian Emirate upon his death.
For a while after he died, Osama bin
Laden's successor was believed by some
to be the ETIM leader Abdul Shakoor
Turkistani because jihadist
organizations have been powerfully
influenced by ETIM.
Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri
released a statement supporting Jihad in
Xinjiang against Chinese, in the
Caucasus against the Russians, and
naming Somalia, Yemen, Syria, Iraq, and
Afghanistan as places of warfare.
Zawahiri endorsed "jihad to liberate
every span of land of the Muslims that
has been usurped and violated, from
Kashgar to Andalusia, and from the
Caucasus to Somalia and Central Africa".
Uyghurs inhabit Kashgar, the city which
was mentioned by Zawahiri.
The TIP has some members of other
ethnicities besides the Uighur, a TIP
suicide bomber in Afghanistan who
attacked American troops was Nuruddin, a
Turkish militant and he advocated that
Turks and Uighurs mount "Islamic flags
at the White House and Beijing's
Tiananmen Square" while a TIP Kazakh
member named Uspan Batir made an
appearance in a video and said There is
a line artificially drawn by the infidel
in between us--saying you are from
Kazakhstan, Turkistan, Uzbekistan and
Kyrgyzstan--there is a line drawn
artificially by the infidel, my
brothers... The religion never came only
to Kazakhs, it did not come only to
Uighurs, and it did not come only to
Arabs... Do not separate. Allah said,
you do not separate to say that ‘you are
Kazakhstan, you are Turkistan and you
are Uzbekistan.’
The Turkish TIP suicide bomber Nuruddin
called for expulsion of "Crusader" and
"Buddhist" "infidels", and called
"Andalusia, East Turkistan, Chechyna,
South Africa" as "lands of Islam".
The Turkistan Islamic Party issued
condolences for Taliban leader Mullah
Omar upon his death.
With the goal of establishing a Central
Asian Islamic state, Uyghurs, Chechens,
Uzbeks, Tajiks, Kyrgyz Kazakhs, and
other ethnicities flocked to serve under
Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan leader
Juma Namangani.
During the Battle of Kunduz in
Afghanistan, foreign Islamist militants
like Uyghurs, Chechens, Rohingya,
Kyrgyz, Tajiks, and Uzbeks joined the
Taliban in the attack. The Pakistani
Army's Operation Zarb e Azb appears to
have driven these foreign militants from
Pakistan's northwestern area of
Waziristan into Afghanistan. Non-Afghan
militants like Arabs, Tajiks, Chechens,
Uyghurs, Uzbeks, and Pakistanis make up
40% of anti-government fighters in
Afghanistan according to Dawlat Waziri,
a member of the Defense Ministry of
Afghanistan. These militants caused a
surge in fighting in 2015. Uyghurs,
Chechens, and Uzbeks made up the
majority of casualties in clashes
against Afghan National Security Forces.
“Turkistān al-Islāmīyyah” Issue #14
endorsed attacks and killings against
Chinese workers and referred to
"Martyrdom Operations" against a police
station and a "Martyr's Brigade".
The Turkistan Islamic Party in Syria
uses the Jihadist Shahada flag with the
name of the group in Arabic below the
shahada: "Turkistan Islamic Party for
the Support of the People of al-Sham".
TIP in Syria also calls itself by the
name of "Turkistan Islamic Party in the
land of al-Sham". A Jabhat al Nusra
member named Abu Rabah helped Uyghur
militants start their first camp in
Syria and a Turkish language website
based in Turkey was launched to recruit
"Uyghur mujahideen" to fight in Syria
for the Al-Qaeda affiliated Uyghur
Turkistan Islamic Party. TIP sent the
"Turkistan Brigade" to take part in the
Syrian Civil War, most noticeably in the
2015 Jisr al-Shughur offensive. The
leader of TIP in Syria was Abu Rida
al-Turkestani. Abu Rida Al-Turkestani
gave a speech during the offensive in
Jisr al-Shughur inviting "Muslims" from
"East Turkestan" to come to Sham in
order to "kill" "Nusayris". Abu Rida
al-Turkestani gave a speech denouncing
America and claiming Muslims are
oppressed "in the land of Afghanistan,
and in Turkestan, and in Waziristan, and
in Burma, and in Bilad ash-Sham" In May
2015 in Jisr al-Shugour the Syrian army
killed Abu Rida al-Turkestani near a
hospital. TIP members in Syria fight
alongside the Al-Qaeda branch Al Nusrah
Front since TIP is allied to Al-Qaeda in
Pakistan and Afghanistan and conducted
suicide bombings for Nusrah Front.
Members of TIP have been killed in
battle in Syria. TIP eulogized and
applauded members of its organization
who participated in suicide bombings and
members who were killed in action in
Jisr al Shughur. Members of the group
helped other Jihadists enforce religious
law in Idlib such as wrecking alcohol in
stores and this was noted that with
“support of Allah and by the strike of
the fist of the Mujahideen from the Al
Nusrah Front, Ahrar al Sham and
Turkistan,” that they undertook these
actions by a Syrian Jihadist in Jaysh al
Fateh. A Jabhat Al Nusra Jihadist called
Abu Mohamed Al-Ansari interviewed by
VICE News after the Idlib offensive said
that "The battle was good, praise be to
God. The brothers from all the groups
started working together and
coordinating. Each faction is
responsible for a side. The majority
were immigrant brothers from Turkestan.
They are the ones who attacked the
important points." The spokesman of
Jabhat Al-Nusra Abu Maria al-Qahtani
claimed that Muslims were "oppressed" in
"Turkestan" and that Nusra needs to
"defend" them. TIP joined in on the
Jihadist offensive in the Al-Ghab plain
along with Al-Qaeda affiliated Jund al
Aqsa against the Syrian army, referring
to the Syrian army by the disparaging
name "Nusayri". The Turkistan Islamic
Party and Jabhat Al-Nusra launched a
joint operation which overran the Syrian
military's Abu Dhuhur airbase. The
Turkistan Islamic Party's Islam Awazi
released photos of its fighters in
Syria. The Uyghur Turkistan Islamic
Party and the Taliban allied Uzbek Imam
Bukhari Jamaat and Al-Qaeda allied Uzbek
Katibat al Tawhid wal Jihad, along with
Jund al Aqsa cooperated together in the
Al Ghab plain to conquer multiple
crucial villages, with the TIP engaging
in suicide bombings in Jisr al Shughur
and its participation in overrunning Abu
Dhuhur with Jund al Aqsa and Al Nusrah.
The Turkistan Islamic Party released
photos of their Uyghur fighters at Abu
Dhuhur.
A mass execution of 56 captured Syrian
soldiers was carried out by the
Turkestan Islamic Party along with
Jabhat al-Nusra at Abu al-Duhur.
After the Russian military intervention
in the Syrian Civil War, photos of
Uyghur fighters from Turkistan Islamic
Party were released with captions in
Arabic that said “standing up strongly
to the Nusayri army and the Russians.”.
In response to the Russian backed
offensive by the Syrian Army the
jihadist Turkistan Islamic Party sent
fighters to the Ghab Plain to support
rebels in fighting against the Syrian
Army, Iranians, and Hezbollah forces.
One of Sayfullakh Shishani's fighters in
Jabhat al-Nusra claimed that a united
faction called al-Muhajireen was formed
out of the unification of the Uyghur
Turkistan, Uzbek Abu Salyaha and
Al-Bukhari, Ahlu Sunnah wal-Jama'a, and
Jaish al-Muhajireen wal Ansar.
Katiba Turkistan joined with Ahrar
al-Sham, Jabhat al-Nusra, and Junud
al-Sham against the Syrian army in the
battle for Jisr al-Shughur.
Arab news agencies reported that the
Uyghurs in TIP, the Chechens in Junud Al
Sham, Jabhat Al Nusra and Ahrar al Sham
are being coordinated by Turkish
intelligence to work with the Army of
Conquest.
Syrian Churches have been demolished by
Turkistan Islamic Party Uyghur fighters,
who exalted in the acts of destruction,
and in Homs and Idlib battlefields the
Turkistan Islamic Party cooperated with
Uzbek brigades and Jabhat al-Nusra,
Jabhat al-Nusra and IS compete with each
other to recruit Uyghur fighters. In
Jisr al-Shughur a Church's cross had a
TIP flag placed on top of it after the
end of the battle.
The Turkistan Islamic Party has
participated in besieging the Shiite
villages Fua’a and Kafriyeh.
The village of Az-Zanbaqi in Jisr
al-Shughur's countryside has become a
base for a massive amount of Uyghur
Turkistan Islamic Party militants and
their families in Syria, estimated at
around 3,500, military camps in the area
are training hundreds of children from
these families; Hezbollah media, Iranian
media and Syrian government media
accused Turkish intelligence of being
involved in transporting these Uyghurs
via Turkey to Syria, with the aim of
using them first in Syria to help Jabhat
Al-Nusra and gain combat experience
fighting against the Syrian Army before
sending them back to Xinjiang to fight
against China if they manage to survive.
The Syrian political analyst and Arab
nationalist Taleb Ibrahim accused Turkey
of trying to demographically alter areas
of Syria by sending in Turkic peoples
like Uyghurs, Turkmens, and others to
take over whole villages after
ethnically cleansing the Arab locals,
accusing Turkey of neo-Ottoman and
Turkish colonialist policies towards
Syria and trying to take parts of Syria
from Arabs.
TIP's Islam Awazi encouraged entire
Uyghur families including women and
children to emigrate abroad to perform
"Jihad".
Turkish connections were used by Uyghur
fighters to go into Syria and the
humanitarian Uyghur Eastern Turkistan
Education and Solidarity Association
which is located in Turkey sent Uyghurs
into Syria, endorsed the killing of the
pro-China Imam Juma Tayir, applauded
attacks in China, and posted on its
website content from the TIP.
On a communique dated to Wednesday, 9th
of Dhu al-Hijjah 1436 Hijra TIP's Islam
Awazi media arm stated that This year is
drawing to a close and we thank Allah
for what He has blessed us with
conquests, victories, and glory. 'We
your brothers the Mujahideen of
Turkistan are continuing in the
liberation of the land of al-Sham and
proceeding in our jihad for the sake of
Allah to liberate every last inch of the
land of al-Sham, with permission from
Allah.
Al-Qaeda included an article in its
magazine "Resurgence" promoting East
Turkestan Independence titled “Did You
Know? 10 Facts About East Turkistan”,
the article was ridden with errors and
false claims such as claiming Quranic
education was banned, and included other
claims such as "East Turkistan has never
been a part of China" and it was
"independent of China for more than
1,800 years", "In 1949, 93 percent of
the population of East Turkistan was
Uyghur while 7 percent was Chinese", and
that "After the Communist takeover in
1949, more than 4.5 million Turkish
Muslims were killed by the Communist
government", with Al-Qaeda calling for
the "occupied Muslim land" "East
Turkistan" to be "recovered [into] the
shade of the Islamic Caliphate".
As part of an effort to reach out to
foreign Muslims, on the Ink of Swords
Network, an Arabic language magazine
titled "Islamic Turkistan" was issued by
ETIM on January 2009 and it described
ETIM as "a group of workers for Islam
and the mujahideen in the Cause of Allah
in order to liberate Turkistan", and
said that the aim of ETIM was to
"establish an Islamic Caliphate in the
light of the Book and the Sunnah", "in
the Cause of Allah, promotion of virtue,
prevention of vice, and the call to
Allah.", to create an Islamic State by
means of jihad.
Fellow Al-Qaeda aligned Islamist
organizations with the aim of a
worldwide Islamic Caliphate cooperate
with TIP whose own goal is an Islamic
State, with TIP fighting against the
militaries of Syria and Pakistan in
addition to China and being assisted by
Central Asian, Gulf, European, and North
American based outfits and the TIP
leader Abdullah Mansour used the words
"mujahideen" and "jihadi operation" in a
Uighur language video produced by TIP's
Islam Awazi Ṣawt al-Islām Media Center
when TIP took responsibility for the 29
October 2013 Tianmen Square terrorist
attack.
Islam Awazi released a video called "We
Are Coming O Buddhists” of a TIP
affiliated Rohingya cleric named Sheikh
Abu Dhar ‘Azzam who also called for the
killing of Buddhists in addition to
Chinese, saying in Arabic that "Killing
you... Slaughtering you... And cutting
off your heads is all good", "Kill you,
spill your blood, cut off your head is a
good thing", the unedited message said
"We are Muslims, and you are our enemies
oh Buddhists and Chinese: You will not
see us and killing you, and spilling
your blood, and cutting your heads of:
all of it is good, insha Allah" on 24
February 2014, he also said "we are a
nation that loves death while you are a
nation that loves wine and women, and we
are coming insha Allah, we want to kill
Buddhists to the east of this land and
to the west of it"., he also said "those
Chinese Buddhists, their small eyes,
flat noses. Judgment day will not come,
until we attacked them. Judgment day
will not come, until we slaughter them.
Judgment day will not come, until our
war with them and attacking them." In
the Turkistan Islamic Party's Turkestan
Al-Islamiyya magazine, Issue 13, Abu
Dhar 'Azzam congratulated the Tsarnaev
brothers on their terrorist attack in
the Boston Marathon bombing, saying In
the very house of unbelief, two Chechen
brothers destroyed the infidels'
fortresses on April 16, 2013. During the
[ensuing] search [by the authorities for
the perpetrators], the elder brother
died as a martyr in the field of glory
and honor, Allah willing. The younger
brother, Dzokhar, remained, and told his
dear nation: 'We did this operation as
revenge for what America does in
Palestine, Iraq, and Afghanistan.' He
didn't mention his homeland Chechnya,
since this jihad is a jihad of [an
entire] nation, not [a campaign] for the
liberation of a single land.... The
Muslims' lands are one and their honor
is one. Abu Dhar Azzam called upon
Muslims to attack Germany, China, and
Burma, saying : Rise O servants of Allah
to help your brothers and sisters!, Rise
to save your sons and daughters! Do your
best in jihad, O guardians of creed and
[monotheism], against the enemies of
Allah the idolatrous Buddhists, and
target the most important installations
of Burma, China and Germany, and their
interests and the interests of the
United Nations, which supports these
massacres and this genocide in Arakan.
Abu Dhar ‘Azzam featured in a video
released by TIP titled “We Have To
Empower Islam In the Depths Of Our
Hearts”.
Islam Awazi released a video showing
Burqa clad women being militarily
trained by the Turkistan Islamic Party
with guns and RPGs.
Camps training children for Jihad are
being run by the Turkistan Islamic Party
in Syria. Uyghur child soldiers being
instructed in Sharia and training with
guns were depicted in a video released
by TIP.
A video of a training camp in Waziristan
in Pakistan's tribal areas showing
children being trained with weapons was
released by the Turkistan Islamic
Party's Islam Awazi.
TIP released a video titled “Message to
the Mujāhidīn of the Caucasus”.
TIP released a video titled “Advice to
Our Muslim Brothers in Turkey”.
The TIP in Syria released a video series
called "Lovers of Paradise".
The TIP in Syria released a video series
called "Blessings for the strangers". In
the second video of the series, the
leader of TIP in Syria Abu Rida
al-Turkestani read out a document with
an Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan
letterhead, detailing the history of the
founding of the Turkistan Islamic Party
by Hasan Mahsum and "East Turkstani
immigrants" when they moved to Taliban
controlled Afghanistan, gave allegiance
to Mullah Omar and founded the
organization.
The TIP in Syria released a series of
photographs titled "Pictures from the
land of the Epic Battles". TIP also
released photographs under the Turkish
title "Nadir Suretler".
TIP's Islam Awazi released a "Visual
Nasheed" titled "Wake Up Oh Muslim
Ummah". The end of the nasheed video
featured TIP fighters burning a Syrian
flag, the burning of a portrait of
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, and
footage of the September 11 attacks on
the World Trade Center, with the Uyghur
language subtitles of the nasheed
referring to the "Kafirlar" when the
destruction of the World Trade Center
towers was shown on the video.
TIP's Islam Awazi released a "Visual
Nasheed" titled "Return to Your
Religion".
It was announced that TIP's "Voice of
Islam" media would be solely released on
Twitter, Shamoukh, and Fida'a via the
"Global Islamic Media Front".
TIP released a Nasheed “The Sacrificer
of Self for God”.
TIP released a Nasheed “If I Was
Killed”.
TIP released a Nasheed “Told From Me, Oh
My Father”.
TIP released a Nasheed “Your Giving to
the Lord”.
TIP released a Nasheed “You Should
Realize, Oh His Mother, Verily Your Son
Is In the Way of God”.
TIP released a Nasheed “Lions of
Turkistān”.
= ISIS/ISIL support for Uyghur militants
The terrorist organization Islamic State
of Iraq and the Levant released a video
featuring an 80 year old Uyghur man who
came to join ISIS in Syria along with
his grandchildren, wife, and daughter
after he was inspired by his son who
died in combat in Syria. The video
featured Uyghur children singing about
martyrdom and a 10 year old Uyghur child
threatening China, saying : "O Chinese
kuffar, know that we are preparing in
the land of the khilafah and we will
come to you and raise this flag in
Turkestan with the permission of Allah.”
The old Uyghur man said "'I made hijrah
accompanied by my four grandsons, my
daughter and my wife".
Turkish passports were used by Uyghurs
who were seeking to contact Mujahidin
Indonesia Timor, a pro-ISIS organization
in Sulawesi in Indonesia.
The Turkish run English language BGNNews
news agency reported that the Turkish
Meydan newspaper discovered that Uyghur
fighters joining ISIL were being helped
by businessman Nurali T., who led an
Zeytinburnu district based network in
Istanbul, which produced counterfeit
Turkish passports numbering up to
100,000 to give to Uyghurs from China
and help them go to Turkey form where
they would enter Iraq and Syria to join
ISIL, Uyghurs from China travel to
Malaysia via Cambodia and Thailand and
then travel onto Turkey, since a visa is
not needed for travel between Turkey and
Malaysia, then staying at locations in
Istanbul, and then going to Iraq and
Syria by traveling to southeastern
Turkey, the information was revealed by
AG who participates in the network, he
noted that even though Turkish
authorities are able to detect the fake
passports they do not deport the Uyghurs
and allow them into Turkey, AG said
that: “Turkey has secret dealings with
the Uighurs. The authorities first
confiscate the passports but then
release the individuals.”
After Thailand deported Uyghurs back to
China whom China suspected to have "been
on their way to Turkey, Syria or Iraq to
join jihad", John Kirby, a United States
State Department spokesman, slammed the
move and said Thailand should "allow
those remaining ethnic Uighurs to depart
voluntarily to a country of their
choice".
= 2015 anti-China protests in Turkey =
On July 4, 2015, a group of around 2,000
Turkish nationalists from the Grey
Wolves linked Nationalist Movement Party
protesting against China's fasting ban
in Xinjiang mistakenly attacked South
Korean tourists in Istanbul, which led
to China issuing a travel warning to its
citizens traveling to Turkey. This event
negatively impacted China–Turkey
relations.
Devlet Bahçeli, the leader of Turkey's
Nationalist Movement Party, said in a
statement that the attacks by MHP
affiliated Turkish youth on South Korean
tourists was "understandable", telling
the Turkish newspaper Hurriyet, "What
feature differentiates a Korean from a
Chinese? They see that they both have
slanted eyes. How can they tell the
difference?". Another translation of his
remarks was : "What is the difference
between a Korean and a Chinese anyway?
They both have slitty eyes. Does it make
any difference?"
= 2015 Bangkok bombing =
The 2015 Bangkok bombing is suspected to
have been carried out by the Pan-Turkic
neo-fascist Turkish ultra-nationalist
organization Grey Wolves due to
Thailand's deportation of Uyghur
terrorist suspects back to China instead
of allowing them to travel to Turkey for
asylum. A Turkish man named Adem Karadag
was arrested by the Thai police in
connection to the bombing with Turkish
passports. Bomb making materials were
found in his apartment. The Grey Wolves
are described by the media as a
terrorist group and became famous for
their assassinations and killings of
journalists, liberals, and leftists in
Turkey, their member Mehmet Ali Ağca's
assassination attempt on Pope John Paul
II, and their involvement in the
Nagorno-Karabakh War and the Chechen war
due to the Muslim and Turkic populations
of those areas since their aim is the
unification of all Muslim Turkic peoples
into one state spanning from Central
Asia to the Balkans.
Casualties 
Over 800 people have been killed in the
conflict, either directly as a
combatant, or indirectly as a victim of
terrorist attacks.
In 2014, about 500 people have been
recorded killed as a result of the
conflict.
See also 
Human rights in China
Chittagong Hill Tracts conflict
Persecution of Buddhists
References 
= Citations =
= Sources =
Bellér-Hann, Ildikó, ed.. Situating the
Uyghurs Between China and Central Asia.
Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. ISBN
0754670414. ISSN 1759-5290. Retrieved 10
March 2014. 
Bovingdon, Gardner. The Uyghurs:
Strangers in Their Own Land. Columbia
University Press. ISBN 0231519419. 
BURNS, JOHN F.. "ON SOVIET-CHINA BORDER,
THE THAW IS JUST A TRICKLE". The New
York Times. Retrieved 12 May 2014. 
Clarke, Michael E.. Xinjiang and China's
Rise in Central Asia - A History. Taylor
& Francis. ISBN 1136827064. Retrieved 10
March 2014. 
Dickens, Mark. "The Soviets in Xinjiang
1911-1949". OXUS COMMUNICATIONS.
Retrieved 12 May 2014. 
Dillon, Michael. Contemporary China - An
Introduction. Routledge. ISBN
1134290543. Retrieved 10 March 2014. 
Dillon, Michael. Xinjiang: China's
Muslim Far Northwest. Routledge. ISBN
1134360967. Retrieved 10 March 2014. 
Forbes, Andrew D. W.. Warlords and
Muslims in Chinese Central Asia: A
Political History of Republican Sinkiang
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