"Cease deporting Uyghurs to China": East Turkistan Govt in Exile to Turkey

Istanbul [Turkey], December 30 (ANI): The East Turkistan Government in Exile has called on the Government in Turkey to stop the arrest and deportation of Uyghurs, and end cooperation with China on the matter, according to a press release by the ETGE released on its official website, east-turkistan.net.

The ETGE is a parliamentary-based democratically elected official body established and headquartered in Washington, D.C. by Uyghurs, Kazakhs, and other peoples from East Turkistan. The body represents the people of East Turkistan on the international stage.

According to the ETGE press release: "Earlier today, Turkish state media TRT World reported that the AKP-led government of Turkey asserted that it is "defending" the rights of Uyghurs, though it actively engages in intelligence and security cooperation with China to undermine East Turkistani/Uyghur activism within Turkey and the global East Turkistani diaspora."

Turkish Foreign Minister Cavusoglu had during a joint Turkish-Chinese press conference in Beijing in 2017, stated that: "We see China's security as our own, and we do not allow any negative activity against China, either in our country or in our region. Likewise, we prevent all kinds of activities, including publications against China. I am also happy to see that our cooperation in security matters is getting stronger. This cooperation will continue to increase in the upcoming period."

In March 2021, Turkey's ruling AKP government in the Turkish Grand National Assembly suppressed a motion that would have designated as genocide, China's ongoing atrocities against the Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, and other Turkic peoples in East Turkistan.

The intelligence and security collaboration between Turkey and China only intensified.

On November 3, 2022, there was a meeting between China's Deputy Minister for Public Security Du Hangwei, Turkey's Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu and Turkey's head of the Directorate of Migration Management's Deportation Affairs Ramazan Secil.

Following the meeting, several Uyghurs in Istanbul were arrested and were later deported to detention camps. This led to widespread social media outrage from the global East Turkistani/Uyghur diaspora.

Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu denied the deportations and called the allegations a lie.

"We categorically reject Cavusoglu's false statement, as Turkey has deported Uyghurs to China on multiple occasions, often using third nations as intermediaries to conceal its damaging actions against Uyghurs and other East Turkistanis," said East Turkistan Government in Exile President Ghulam Yaghma. "Most notable is the deportation of Zinnetgul Tursun and her children from Turkey to China via Tajikistan in 2019," he said, according to the ETGE press release.

"Hundreds of East Turkistanis and Uyghurs continue to be detained in deportation detention camps around Turkey, according to our understanding," said Dr Mamtimin Ala from the East Turkistan Government in Exile. "We call on Turkiye to free the Uyghur detainees and cease deporting or extraditing East Turkistanis/ Uyghurs to China or any other country," he added, according to the press release.

East Turkistan Government in Exile Prime Minister Salih Hudayar, as quoted by the ETGE press release, said: "We again call on the Government of Turkiye to demonstrate its sincerity regarding its "defence" of Uyghur rights by formally recognizing China's ongoing genocide against Uyghurs and other Turkic peoples in East Turkistan, recognizing East Turkistan as an Occupied Country, and terminating all intelligence and security cooperation with China that targets East Turkistan and its people."

As per media reports, on December 22, 1949 the People's Republic of China overthrew the independent East Turkistan Republic, leading to many East Turkistanis including senior military and government officials to flee to the Soviet Union.

The ETGE was formally established on September 14, 2004, as an official government in exile in Washington, DC, by prominent Uyghur, Kazakh and other East Turkistani independence leaders representing over a dozen organizations from across the East Turkistani / Uyghur diaspora following the dissolution of the East Turkistan National Congress (ETNC). (ANI)