PRESS RELEASE – For Immediate Release
East Turkistan Government in Exile
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22 December 2021

WASHINGTON: The East Turkistan Government in Exile (ETGE) and the East Turkistan National Awakening Movement (ETNAM) held demonstrations in Istanbul, The Hague, Washington, DC, and Edmonton on Wednesday afternoon to commemorate East Turkistan’s National Day of Mourning and called for international recognition of East Turkistan and decisive actions against China’s ongoing genocide and colonization.

Seventy-two years ago today, on December 22, 1949, the independent East Turkistan Republic was overthrown by the People’s Republic of China, resulting in the formal annexation of East Turkistan into China.

The East Turkistan Republic was established on November 12, 1944, when Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, Uzbeks, Tatars, and Mongols rebelled against the Chinese occupation declared independence. The East Turkistan Republic was short-lived due to the Soviet Union’s secret negotiation with Mao Zedong and the Chinese Communists. December 22 is commemorated as a ‘black day’ and a national day of mourning by East Turkistani diaspora communities worldwide.

The demonstrators urged their host governments to take more decisive actions against China’s ongoing genocide of Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, and other Turkic peoples. They also urged their host governments to grant Uyghurs and other Turkic peoples fleeing China’s genocide in East Turkistan refugee status and asylum.

Uyghurs in the Netherlands urged the Dutch Government to support East Turkistan’s case against China at the International Criminal Court (ICC); this call was also echoed by Uyghurs in the United States and Canada.

Speaking at a rally in front of the U.S. Department of State in Washington, DC, “Today is East Turkistan’s Day of National Mourning, the day that China formally overthrew our independent East Turkistan Republic 72 years ago. Thus, we again call on the U.S. government and all governments across the world to treat East Turkistan on par with Tibet by formally recognizing East Turkistan as an occupied country,” Prime Minister Salih Hudayar said.

The East Turkistan Government in Exile also urged President Joe Biden to sign and implement the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act. This bill would bar all goods from East Turkistan from entering the U.S. unless they are certified free of forced and (or) slave labor. The bill had had recently been passed by the U.S. Congress.