The statement is issued by the Executive Office of the President of the East Turkistan Government in Exile
The East Turkistan Government in Exile solemnly commemorates the 511th anniversary of the founding of the Yarkent Khanate by Sultan Said Khan in late May 1514.
The Yarkent Khanate was a sovereign Turkic state that ruled over the majority of East Turkistan. Its administrative capital was Yarkent, while its cultural and economic centers included Kashgar, Khotan, Keriya, Kucha, Aksu, Turpan, Qarasheher, Qumul, Dukhan, and Uzgen—comprising a vibrant network of cities that sustained governance, trade, scholarship, and cultural life.
Its eastern frontier reached the historic Jiayu Pass (Jiayuguan), long recognized as the traditional boundary between East Turkistan and China, underscoring the Khanate’s geopolitical independence.
The Yarkent Khanate is one of many sovereign Turkic and Indo-European states established throughout East Turkistan’s over 3,000-year history of statehood and 6,000-year-old civilization. From the Tocharian city-states, the Hun (“Xiongnu”) Empire, Kushan Empire, and Hephthalites, to the Kök Türk Khaganate (Turkistan), the Uyghur Khaganate, the Kara-Khanid Khanate, the Idiqut Uyghur State, the Chagatai Khanates, and the Yarkent Khanate, East Turkistan has maintained a long and proud tradition of political sovereignty.
In the modern era, this legacy continued through the State of Yette Sheher (1864–1877), the First East Turkistan Republic (1933–1934), and the Second East Turkistan Republic (1944–1949)—each reflecting the East Turkistani people’s enduring legacy of statehood, independence, and self-rule.
This tradition of sovereignty has been periodically interrupted by foreign occupation—including rule by the Dzungars (1705–1759), the Manchu Qing Empire (1759–1863, 1877–1912), Chinese warlords (1912–1933), KMT-aligned Chinese warlords (1934–1943), and the Chinese Communist regime (1949–present).
Yet the political will of the East Turkistani people to reclaim their national sovereignty has remained unbroken, and it continues today through the work of the East Turkistan Government in Exile.
The Yarkent Khanate maintained diplomatic and trade relations with the Mughal Empire, Ming China, and neighboring Central Asian powers such as the Kazakh Khanate and the Khanate of Bukhara, affirming its recognized status within the regional and international order of its time.
On this solemn occasion, the East Turkistan Government in Exile honors the enduring legacy of the Yarkent Khanate as a pillar of our national history. We reaffirm our unwavering commitment to the restoration of East Turkistan’s independence and national sovereignty, in accordance with international law, historical continuity, and the inalienable right of all peoples to self-determination.