PRESS RELEASE – For Immediate Release
East Turkistan Government in Exile (ETGE)
East-Turkistan.Net
contact@East-Turkistan.Net
12 November 2026
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The East Turkistan Government-in-Exile (ETGE) commemorates East Turkistan National Independence Day and calls on governments worldwide to support the restoration of East Turkistan’s independence as the essential safeguard against China’s ongoing genocide, colonization, and occupation.
November 12 marks the ninety-third anniversary of the First East Turkistan Republic (1933-1934), established in Kashgar in 1933, and the eighty-second anniversary of the Second East Turkistan Republic (1944-1949), established in Ghulja in 1944. The day also commemorates Kashgar’s liberation from Manchu Qing occupation in 1864, which preceded the establishment of the State of Yette Sheher (1865–1877).
East Turkistani communities and supporters held rallies in Washington, D.C., and Edmonton, Canada, on November 11. On November 12, commemorations, rallies, and other events took place in Istanbul, Amsterdam, Stockholm, Oslo, and elsewhere, honoring the republics and reaffirming the national struggle for independence.
“East Turkistan was an independent country. It remains an occupied country. China’s genocide is the direct consequence of the destruction of our sovereignty and the imposition of colonial rule,” said Salih Hudayar, ETGE Minister for Foreign Affairs and Security and leader of the East Turkistan National Movement (ETNM). “Our people cannot survive on condemnations and empty promises. We call on the world to confront the occupation and support the restoration of our independence before China makes our nation’s destruction irreversible.”
ETGE Prime Minister Abdulahat Nur, who led the Edmonton rally, reaffirmed the Government’s commitment to national sovereignty.
“Our forefathers established independent republics so that our people could govern our homeland and determine our own future. We will not surrender that right,” Nur said. “We call on Canada and other democratic nations to recognize East Turkistan as an occupied country and support our struggle for decolonization and independence.”
The ETGE emphasized that mass imprisonment, slave labor, family separation, reproductive coercion, and the systematic destruction of national identity cannot be addressed under continued Chinese rule. Restoring independence remains its central objective and the foundation of lasting protection for East Turkistan’s people.
The Government urged states to support the decolonization petition submitted jointly by the ETGE and ETNM to the United Nations Special Committee on Decolonization on May 5, 2026; strengthen sanctions and forced-labor import enforcement; support international legal accountability; and protect East Turkistani refugees and diaspora communities from Chinese transnational repression.
The ETGE called on supporters to contact elected representatives, demand concrete action, and strengthen East Turkistan’s national institutions.
The Government honors the republics’ founding leaders and all who sacrificed their lives for national freedom, reaffirming its determination to restore a free, sovereign, and independent East Turkistan.