PRESS RELEASE – For Immediate Release
East Turkistan Government in Exile (ETGE)
East-Turkistan.Net
contact@East-Turkistan.Net
20 March 2025
Washington, D.C. – The East Turkistan Government-in-Exile (ETGE) strongly condemns the Türkiye-China Joint Security Cooperation Mechanism and its latest meeting in Ankara on March 20, 2025. What Türkiye calls “security cooperation” is, in truth, an insidious partnership designed to undermine, infiltrate, and suppress the East Turkistani people’s legitimate struggle to reclaim their independence and liberty.
Under the false pretense of “counterterrorism” and “security,” Türkiye is serving as the velvet glove for China’s iron fist—a willing proxy in Beijing’s war to annihilate the East Turkistani nation. This is not about security; it is about subjugation. This is not about cooperation; it is about betrayal.
Chaired by Turkish Deputy Foreign Minister Nuh Yılmaz and Chinese Deputy Foreign Minister Qin Xiaodong, this disgraceful meeting is part of a broader effort to extend China’s global campaign of repression. It is designed to manipulate, co-opt, and control diaspora institutions, leadership, and political movements, ultimately dismantling East Turkistan’s national independence movement. Türkiye, which once provided refuge, has actively served as China’s accomplice in silencing and suppressing East Turkistan’s legitimate political struggle worldwide since December 1996.
Salih Hudayar, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Security of the ETGE, issued a stark warning: “Türkiye has abandoned its Turkic-Islamic principles and become a tool of China’s imperialist ambitions. While Beijing commits genocide in East Turkistan, Türkiye is helping extend China’s tyranny beyond East Turkistan. It is actively working hand-in-hand with China to infiltrate and control our global diaspora communities and organizations, silence legitimate voices, and sabotage our struggle to restore our national independence. This is a historic betrayal of the East Turkistani people—one that will never be forgotten.”
Through intelligence sharing, coercion, and covert influence operations, Türkiye is enabling China to monitor, manipulate, and suppress East Turkistani activism worldwide. The hands of the Turkish state—the very state that claims kinship with the Turkic world—are being used to muzzle Uyghur activists and neutralize East Turkistan’s resistance against China’s campaign of colonization, genocide, and occupation. This is not mere complicity; it is active participation in China’s war to erase the East Turkistani nation.
Türkiye’s collaboration with China has one goal: to ensure that the East Turkistani people, especially Uyghurs, remain stateless, voiceless, and powerless. Türkiye is no longer a neutral party; it is a willing accomplice in China’s genocidal war against the East Turkistani people. It is a disgrace to the Turkic world, a stain on the cause of freedom, and a dagger in the back of the oppressed.
The ETGE demands that Türkiye immediately and unequivocally terminate all security and intelligence cooperation with China. We call on the international community to recognize and condemn Türkiye’s role as China’s proxy in global repression against East Turkistan. Governments worldwide must not allow Türkiye to serve as Beijing’s velvet glove in the destruction of the East Turkistani people and their legitimate national struggle.
Despite these efforts to suppress and undermine our national liberation movement, the ETGE remains steadfast in resisting China’s ongoing campaign of colonization, genocide, and occupation in East Turkistan. We will continue to actively advocate for the restoration of East Turkistan’s independence and resist all efforts by any power to sabotage or neutralize our legitimate struggle to reclaim our national independence and sovereignty.