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ALMATY, Kazakhstan (TCA) — The leader of a group in Almaty that has raised concerns over problems faced by ethnic Kazakhs in China's Xinjiang region is on trial. Serikzhan Bilash, who is charged with illegally leading an unregistered organization, pleaded not guilty as his trial started in Almaty on February 12, RFE/RL's Kazakh Service reported. Continue reading
BISHKEK (TCA) — Turkey has called on Beijing to respect the rights of Uyghurs, a Turkic ethnic minority living in China’s northwestern Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, and to close the so-called re-education camps where up to a million Uyghurs are reportedly held. "We invite the Chinese authorities to respect the fundamental human rights of Uighur Turks and to close the internment camps. We call on the international community and the Secretary General of the United Nations to take effective measures in order to bring to an end this human tragedy in Xinjiang," spokesman for the Turkish Foreign Ministry Hami Aksoy said in a statement published on the ministry's website on February 9. We are republishing the following article on the issue, written by James M. Dorsey*: In perhaps the most significant condemnation to date of China’s brutal crackdown on Turkic Muslims in its north-western province of Xinjiang, Turkey’s foreign ministry demanded this weekend that Chinese authorities respect human rights of the Uighurs and close what it termed “concentration camps” in which up to one million people are believed to be imprisoned. Calling the crackdown an “embarrassment to humanity,” Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman Hami Aksoy said the death of detained Uighur poet and musician Abdurehim Heyit had prompted the ministry to issue its statement. Known as the Rooster of Xinjiang, Mr. Heyit symbolized the Uighurs’ cultural links to the Turkic world, according to Adrian Zenz, a European School of Culture and Theology researcher who has done pioneering work on the crackdown. Turkish media asserted that Mr. Heyit, who was serving an eight-year prison sentence, had been tortured to death. Mr. Aksoy said Turkey was calling on other countries and United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to take steps to end the “humanitarian tragedy” in Xinjiang. The Chinese embassy in Ankara rejected the statement as a “violation of the facts,” insisting that China was fighting separatism, extremism and terrorism, not seeking to “eliminate” the Uighurs’ ethnic, religious or cultural identity. Mr. Aksoy’s statement contrasted starkly with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s declaration six months earlier that China was Turkey’s economic partner of the future. At the time, Turkey had just secured a US$3.6 billion loan for its energy and telecommunications sector from the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC). The Turkish statement constitutes the first major crack in the Muslim wall of silence that has enabled the Chinese crackdown, the most frontal assault on Islam in recent memory. The statement’s significance goes beyond developments in Xinjiang. Like with Muslim condemnation of US President Donald J. Trump’s decision last year to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, Turkey appears to want to be seen as a spokesman of the Muslim world in its one-upmanship with Saudi Arabia and to a lesser degree Iran. While neither the [Saudi] kingdom or Iran are likely to follow Turkey’s example any time soon, the statement raises the stakes and puts other contenders for leadership on the defensive. The bulk of the Muslim world has remained conspicuously silent with...
BISHKEK (TCA) — A woman in Kyrgyzstan has been arrested and charged with inciting ethnic hatred during a protest against Beijing's policies in the northwestern Chinese region of Xinjiang, RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service reported. Continue reading
ALMATY, Kazakhstan (TCA) — A group of ethnic Kazakhs originally from China have urged the U.S. and Russian presidents to help secure the release of their relatives whom they say are being held at so-called “reeducation camps” in the northwestern Chinese region of Xinjiang, RFE/RL's Kazakh Service reported. Continue reading
BISHKEK (TCA) — Hundreds of activists gathered on January 17 in the center of the Kyrgyz capital, Bishkek, to protest against what they called the increasing number of Chinese migrants in Kyrgyzstan, RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service reported. Continue reading
URUMQI (TCA) — Diplomatic envoys from 12 countries — Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, India, Pakistan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Afghanistan, Thailand, and Kuwait — visited China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in the last days of December at the invitation of the regional government to witness the social and economic progress in this northwestern region, China’s Xinhua news agency reported on January 8. The diplomats visited local markets, farms, educational institutions, mosques, factories, as well as vocational education and training centers. Throughout the trip, they interacted with local vendors, students, and workers in Xinjiang and learned about the region's progress in maintaining social stability, improving people's livelihood and developing local economy, Xinhua reported. They said they expected to cooperate with China's Xinjiang in the fields of culture, tourism, economy and trade. In Kashgar, the diplomatic envoys also visited a local economic development zone. The diplomatic envoys also visited Id Kah Mosque in Kashgar, the largest mosque in Xinjiang, and were briefed on the mosque and its facility improvements. During the visit to a vocational training center in Hotan, Manarbek Kabaziyev, Counselor of the Kazakhstan Embassy in China, said that students master vocational skills here through training and make a living with these skills later in their life, which shows that the Chinese government truly cares about these trainees. The envoys also visited a clothing factory in Hotan, where villagers who have received training work on the assembly lines. According to the factory owner, they receive a monthly salary of more than 3,000 yuan (438 US dollars). This comes amid reports in western media saying that Chinese authorities in Xinjiang have launched a massive indoctrination and detention campaign, sending hundreds of thousands and possibly more than 1 million people into internment camps that Beijing describes as "reeducation" centers. Former detainees have said they were forced to renounce their culture and religious beliefs and were subjected to political indoctrination, RFE/RL reported. The detention of Uyghurs, Kazakhs, and other ethnic minorities at the camps has been a sensitive subject in neighboring Kazakhstan, a mostly Muslim country of 18 million people. China is a major trading partner for Astana, and Kazakhstan's state-controlled media has generally avoided reporting about the internment camps. But pressure for action has increased following international media coverage of the issue.
