The below statement is attributed to the Executive Council of the East Turkistan Government in Exile.
The East Turkistan Government in Exile (ETGE), also known as the Government in Exile of the Republic of East Turkistan, was established on 14 September 2004 in Washington, DC as the elected official body representing the interests of East Turkistan and its people. The ETGE’s primary objective is to restore East Turkistan’s independence as a democratic, secular, pluralistic Republic that guarantees human rights and freedom for all.
Since its founding, the East Turkistan Government in Exile has been repeatedly targeted by the Chinese government and other malign entities with the intent to undermine and subvert it. Despite the malign efforts by China and other hostile entities, the ETGE was able to overcome numerous obstacles and underwent multiple changes in its leadership over the years.
On 15 June 2019, democratic public elections, the first of their kind in the East Turkistani / Uyghur diaspora, was held for candidates of the East Turkistan Parliament in Exile. Due to unending efforts by the Chinese intelligence and other malign entities to infiltrate and subvert the East Turkistan Government in Exile, the Executive Council of Inspectors – a seven-member body- was established to conduct background checks and vet candidates. The Executive Council of Inspectors’ primary objective is to ensure candidates for parliament and government positions are in good standing and have no connections to Chinese and other malign entities seeking to undermine the East Turkistan Government in Exile.
Following the background checks, those who didn’t meet the thirteen-point qualification and security guidelines for Member of Parliament were rejected.
From 9 November to 12 November 2019, the East Turkistan Government in Exiled’s Parliament held its 8th General Assembly in Washington, DC. The elected members of Parliament elected a new administration/leadership made of a combination of vibrant young emerging leaders and seasoned veteran independence leaders from among themselves.
Over the past one year and nine months, the East Turkistan Government in Exile under its current administration led by President Ghulam Yaghma and Prime Minister Salih Hudayar has proliferated support for restoring East Turkistan’s independence in the East Turkistani / Uygur diaspora, established numerous new relations with governments and parliaments across the world while also deepening existing ties, sought and obtained the recognition of China’s atrocities against Uyghurs and other Turkic peoples in as genocide by numerous governments and parliaments, launched a formal case against Chinese officials for genocide at the International Criminal Court, actively worked towards correctly framing the East Turkistan as an occupied country and the Sino-East Turkistan international conflict as an international conflict and not China’s so-called “internal affairs,” and has increased positive attention by international governments and media on the democratic aspirations of East Turkistani people to restore their independence.
These activities and achievements that hadn’t been made in the previous 70 years have caused great distress to the Chinese government and its various allies. Thus, the Chinese government and its allied entities have increased efforts to undermine and subvert the East Turkistan Government in Exile.
In recent months, several persons with suspected links to the Chinese and Russian intelligence have been fraudulently claiming to represent the East Turkistan Government in Exile. There is no doubt they are serving the Chinese government’s objective to undermine and subvert the East Turkistan Government in Exile and effectively damaging the national interests of East Turkistan and its people.
The first individual is Mr. Erkin Ablimit, located in France. Erkin Ablimit falsely claimed to have been elected by the diaspora community in France to serve as a member of Parliament in the East Turkistan Government in Exile’s Parliament. He had, in fact, never participated in the public elections and foolishly tried to manipulate the East Turkistani people and the East Turkistan Government in Exile. In addition, an investigation revealed his political loyalty towards the East Turkistani cause was highly questionable as his dedication was constantly changing, dependent on pressure from the Chinese government. Furthermore, his immoral behavior and ill-treatment of his own family were also revealed. When confronted with the investigation, he collaborated with Mr. Talip Atajan and other individuals with suspected links to Chinese intelligence and Russian intelligence, including Ms. Mahire Ghopur and Mr. Yadikar Ganiyev, to subvert the East Turkistan Government in Exile. On 25 October 2019, the Executive Council permanently banned Erkin Ablimit from serving in and (or) being affiliated with the East Turkistan Government in Exile and its Parliament in any capacity.
The second individual is Mr. Yadikar Ganiyev, located in Kazakhstan. Upon investigation, the Executive Council of Inspectors uncovered that Yadikar Ganiyev had been, and possibly still a member, of the Communist Party of Russia. He was also a committee member seeking to restore the Soviet Union by annexing Central Asia to Russia. Ganiyev failed to disclose his membership in political parties and committees against the national interest of East Turkistan and its people. Still, he actively engaged in threats against officials of the East Turkistan Government in Exile, using excessively profane and immoral language. In addition, Ganiyev worked closely with Mahire Ghopur, Talip Atajan, and Erkin Ablimit to undermine and subvert the East Turkistan Government in Exile. On 7 October 2019, the Executive Council permanently banned Yadikar Ganiyev from ever serving in and (or) being affiliated with the East Turkistan Government in Exile and its Parliament in any capacity.
The third individual is Ms. Mahire Ghopur, located in Canada. An investigation found that Mahire Ghopur had a long-standing close friendship with Halide, the daughter-in-law of a senior Chinese Ministry of State Security (MSS) intelligence officer named “Almayov (Almayof)”. Almayov is believed to be the Number 2 MSS officer in Chinese occupied East Turkistan. The investigation also discovered that when MSS officer Almayof’s daughter-in-law visited Canada, she resided with Mahire Ghopur. The investigation concluded that Mahire Ghopur was in close contact with Chinese intelligence and, therefore, a significant security risk to the East Turkistan Government in Exile and its Parliament and the overall national interest of East Turkistan and its people. When confronted with the investigation, she joined Erkin Ablimit, Yadikar Ganiyev, and Talip Atajan and worked to undermine and subvert the East Turkistan Government in Exile. On 7 October 2019, Ghopur was effectively banned from ever serving in or being affiliated with the East Turkistan Government in Exile and its Parliament in any capacity. In January/February 2020, she went to Turkey and collected the personal information of hundreds of Uyghurs through deception and falsely stating she was working with the Canadian government and would help resettle the Uyghurs in Canada. It is highly suspected that she passed on the information she collected to her MSS handlers.
The fourth individual is Mr. Talip Atajan (Talifu Atajiang), located in the United States. Mr. Atajan was a parliamentary candidate who unilaterally sought to change the Government in Exile of the Republic of East Turkistan’s constitution and depose the Parliamentary system in favor of a self-proposed Presidential system. Despite being warned numerous times by the Parliament in Exile and the Executive Council, Mr. Atajan continued his malign activities to undermine the East Turkistan Government in Exile and its Parliament. The Executive Council of Inspectors launched an immediate investigation against him and uncovered that Talip Atajan had long-standing close ties with Mahire Ghopur and potentially even MSS officer Almayov and other possible MSS assets. The analysis concluded that Talip Atajan, at the direction of Almayov through Mahire Ghopur, had most likely been embedded into the East Turkistan National Awakening Movement (ETNAM) organization to spy on the day to day activities of ETNAM and its founder Salih Hudayar. The East Turkistan Government in Exile and the East Turkistan National Awakening Movement (ETNAM) cut all ties with Talip Atajan on 12 July 2019. He was subsequently permanently banned from serving in and (or) being affiliated with the East Turkistan Government in Exile and its Parliament.
The East Turkistan Government in Exile would like to clarify to the international community, especially governments and their relevant intelligence/security bodies, along with our fellow East Turkistanis, that the persons mentioned above and their accomplices have no affiliation to the EastTurkistan Government in Exile. We urge everyone to exercise caution and be vigilant to the Chinese, Russian, and other malign governments/entities’ efforts to undermine the East Turkistan Government in Exile and the just struggle to restore East Turkistan’s independence. All information regarding the true representatives of the East Turkistan Government in Exile and its members of Parliament are found on our official website www.East-Turkistan.net.
This statement also serves as a public notice to Mr. Erkin Ablimit, Mr. Yadikar Ganiyev, Ms. Mahire Ghopur, and Mr. Talip Atajan to immediately cease and desist from fraudulently claiming any affiliation with the East Turkistan Government in Exile.
