PRESS RELEASE – For Immediate Release
East Turkistan Government in Exile (ETGE)
East-Turkistan.Net
contact@East-Turkistan.Net
12 October 2025
Washington, D.C. — Today, East Turkistanis across the globe marked the 76th anniversary of the Chinese invasion of East Turkistan. The East Turkistan Government in Exile held coordinated protests in Washington, D.C., Oslo, and Edmonton to demand an end to China’s occupation and genocide, and to call on the international community to recognize East Turkistan as an occupied country and support the restoration of its independence and sovereignty.
On October 12, 1949, just eleven days after the founding of the People’s Republic of China, Chinese communist forces invaded East Turkistan. This invasion led to the overthrow of the independent East Turkistan Republic on December 22, 1949, and launched a relentless campaign of colonization, occupation, and genocide. East Turkistanis worldwide observe October 12 as a National Day of Mourning. China’s invasion of East Turkistan is viewed as the historical root of China’s ongoing genocide against Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, and other Turkic peoples.
Since 2014, the Chinese state has escalated this campaign to full-scale genocide. Millions have been imprisoned, enslaved in forced labor, forcibly sterilized, separated from their children, stripped of their culture, and killed, including through organ harvesting. China’s aggression extends far beyond East Turkistan, targeting diaspora communities and threatening global security, the rule of law, and democratic values.
At the rally in front of the White House in Washington, Salih Hudayar, Foreign Minister of the East Turkistan Government in Exile and leader of the East Turkistan National Movement, stated, “The root of this ongoing genocide is clear: Chinese occupation and colonization of East Turkistan. There can be no justice, no peace, no freedom while this occupation continues.”
At the Norwegian Parliament in Oslo, Qurbanjan Hisamidin, Interior Minister of the East Turkistan Government in Exile and President of the Norway East Turkistan Society, emphasized the international imperative, saying, “The struggle of East Turkistan is not just the struggle of one people. It is a test for all who believe in freedom, justice, and the moral duty of nations to confront tyranny.”
Standing before the Alberta Legislature in Edmonton, Canada, Abdulehet Nur, Prime Minister of the East Turkistan Government in Exile and President of the Alberta Uyghur Society, condemned global inaction, stating, “Condemnations without action are empty. Recognition without follow-through is complicity. Canada, and much of the international community, has failed to act to stop China’s ongoing genocide in East Turkistan. And that failure has a cost, paid by countless East Turkistani lives every single day.”
Today’s global protests called on governments and institutions in the United States, Norway, Canada, and around the world to recognize East Turkistan as an occupied country and support the restoration of its independence and national self-determination. The East Turkistan Government in Exile reiterates that restoring East Turkistan’s independence is the only way to ensure the survival, freedom, and fundamental human rights of Uyghurs and other Turkic peoples.
The East Turkistan Government in Exile calls on all governments to act immediately. Recognize East Turkistan as an occupied country and support the restoration of its independence. Hold China accountable for its crimes, including supporting East Turkistan’s complaint before the International Criminal Court. China’s occupation of East Turkistan and aggression threaten not only the East Turkistani people but also global security, the rule of law, and the stability of free nations. Inaction today enables further genocide and empowers China’s expansionist ambitions.