19 January 2026
Press Release – For Immediate Release
East Turkistan Government in Exile (ETGE)
East-Turkistan.Net
contact@East-Turkistan.Net
The East Turkistan Government in Exile (ETGE) today marked East Turkistan / Uyghur Genocide Recognition and Remembrance Day, commemorating the fifth anniversary of the United States’ formal determination that the People’s Republic of China is committing genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, and other Turkic peoples in East Turkistan.
Chinese colonization and military occupation of East Turkistan began on December 22, 1949, following the invasion of the country by the People’s Republic of China on October 12, 1949. While Chinese colonial domination has persisted for more than seven decades, the current campaign of genocide and crimes against humanity was formally launched on May 23, 2014, when Beijing initiated what it called the “People’s War Against Terrorism,” later institutionalized as the “Strike Hard Campaign Against Violent Terrorism.”
Now entering its twelfth year, the ETGE said the genocide remains ongoing, systematic, and unpunished. While international scrutiny has forced changes in tactics, the underlying objective has not shifted. Mass detention has been reorganized into prisons and judicial mass sentencing, while forced labour, coercive population-control measures, family separation, cultural and religious destruction, demographic engineering, and pervasive surveillance continue across East Turkistan.
Marking the day, ETGE President Dr. Mamtimin Ala said recognition without enforcement has failed to protect the East Turkistani people.
“There is no sustainable path to protecting the freedoms, human rights, or survival of our people without decolonization and the restoration of East Turkistan’s independence,” Dr. Ala said. “Any framework that leaves our people under the authority of a colonial power that has demonstrated genocidal intent is not a solution. It is a delay of annihilation.”
The ETGE emphasized that the people of East Turkistan are not facing isolated or incidental human rights violations. Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, and other Turkic peoples are being targeted as the native peoples of East Turkistan in a systematic effort to erase their identity, faith, language, culture, and existence in their own homeland.
The exiled government pointed to authoritative international findings, including the October 2022 assessment by the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, which concluded that China’s actions may amount to crimes against humanity. Despite this acknowledgment, no UN investigative mechanism or accountability process has been established.
Salih Hudayar, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Security of the ETGE, said the continued genocide reflects a failure to confront its root cause.
“The genocide continues because it has been treated as a human rights issue rather than a crime rooted in occupation and colonization,” Hudayar said. “As long as East Turkistan remains under Chinese occupation, genocide will persist, regardless of how it is rebranded or reorganized.”
The ETGE called on the United Nations and its member states to move beyond statements of concern and documentation by supporting international accountability mechanisms, including investigations by the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice, addressing the national question of East Turkistan, and affirming the East Turkistani people’s right to decolonization and self-determination under international law.
The ETGE said East Turkistan / Uyghur Genocide Recognition and Remembrance Day must serve not only as a moment of remembrance, but as a demand for justice, accountability, and decisive international action to end genocide, dismantle Chinese colonial domination, and restore East Turkistan’s freedom and independence.