PRESS RELEASE – For Immediate Release
East Turkistan Government in Exile (ETGE)
East-Turkistan.Net
contact@East-Turkistan.Net
20 June 2024
Washington, D.C. – The East Turkistan Government in Exile (ETGE) issues an urgent and impassioned call to the global community to end China’s genocidal campaign in East Turkistan following reports of the Chinese government renaming thousands of Uyghur villages.The Chinese government’s systematic renaming of villages in occupied East Turkistan is a blatant attempt to obliterate our rich cultural, religious, and historical heritage and is part of China’s broader strategy of colonization and genocide.
Throughout much of history, East Turkistan was an independent nation. On October 12, 1949, the then newly established People’s Republic of China invaded East Turkistan and overthrew the independent East Turkistan Republic onDecember 22, 1949. In October 1955, the occupying Chinese forces renamed much of East Turkistan to the so-called “Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.”
Since 2009, Chinese occupation forces have renamed over 3,600 Uyghur villages out of 25,000 in East Turkistan, replacing names deeply significant to the Uyghur and other Turkic peoples with Chinese terms. A recent Human Rights Watch report reveals that approximately 630 villages in East Turkistan were renamed to Chinese terms reflecting the oppressive ideology of the Chinese Communist Party, symbolizing China’s relentless effort to erase East Turkistan’s Turkic identity.
“The Chinese invader’s erasure of Uyghur village names is a calculated effort to obliterate our history and identity,” decried Dr. Mamtimin Ala, President of the East Turkistan Government in Exile. “These Uyghur names are not merely words; they embody our culture, our faith, and our connection to the land of East Turkistan. The international community must condemn this cultural vandalism in the strongest terms,” he added.
The renaming of villages is only one facet of China’s broader strategy to assimilate, eradicate, and dominate East Turkistan through brutal repression, cultural destruction, colonization, and genocide. Since 2014, the Chinese government has intensified its colonial genocidal policies, targeting East Turkistan’s native Uyghur, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, and other Turkic populations with mass internment, torture, enforced disappearances, extensive surveillance, forced sterilization, mass enslavement, and other genocidal acts.
The ETGE emphasizes the need to preserve East Turkistan’s cultural and religious heritage. The loss of village names with religious and historical significance is a deep wound for the East Turkistani people, impacting not only their identity but also their daily lives.
“The systematic erasure of our villages, towns, cities, and even our country’s name is not just an attack on our heritage, but a direct assault on our very existence,” said Adil Ablimit, ETGE Minister for Cultural, Education, and Religious Affairs. “China’s genocidal colonial acts aim to strip us of our identity, our history, and our future. The global community must stand with us now more than ever,” he added.
The ETGE calls once again on the United Nations and all concerned governments to take meaningful actions to hold the Chinese government accountable for its heinous genocide and colonization in East Turkistan. We urge the international community to leverage all available platforms, including the upcoming UN Human Rights Council sessions, to demand an end to Beijing’s prolonged campaign of colonization, genocide, and occupation in East Turkistan.
The ETGE reiterates that the only way to end this ongoing genocide and colonization is through the restoration of East Turkistan’s independence. We call upon the world to support our struggle for freedom and justice.
