“90th anniversary of the Republic of East Turkestan and East Turkestan Today” panel was held in Ankara

On the occasion of the founding anniversary of the two republics declared on November 12 in 1933 and 1944 in East Turkestan and the East Turkestan National Day, the Uyghur Academy Foundation, together with the Headquarters of the Turkish Hearths, organized a panel titled “90th anniversary of the Republic of East Turkestan and East Turkestan Today”.

The panel held at the Turkish Hearths Headquarters on November 11, 2023; President of Turkish Hearths, Prof. Dr. Mehmet Öz and members of the Board of Directors, many academicians and students attended.

Moderated by Ankara Haci Bayram Veli University faculty member Prof. Dr. The panel hosted by Mehmet Şahingöz started with the reading of the National Anthem and the East Turkestan National Anthem.

The first speaker in the panel was Ankara University Faculty Member Prof. Dr. Saadettin Yağmur Gömeç made his presentation titled “Uyghur – East Turkestan” and explained in detail the place of East Turkestan in Turkish history, the contributions of Uyghur Turks to Turkish culture, its geographical location and the dark days that started with the Chinese occupation.

Then Prof. Dr. Abdürreşit Celil Karluk, Faculty Member of Ankara Hacı Bayram Veli University, with his presentation titled “Change and Transformation from the Intellectuals Who Founded Two Republics to Today’s Intellectuals”, talked about the massacres in the region since the occupation of East Turkestan, China’s unimaginable brutal policies against East Turkestan intellectuals, the importance of the region for the Turkish world and the silence of the Turkish world to the atrocities in East Turkestan.

Afterwards, Abdulhamit Karahan, Secretary General of Uyghur Academy, made a presentation titled “Assimilation and Genocide Policies Implemented by China in East Turkistan with Documents”. Karahan conveyed the documents of the atrocities in East Turkistan, which were disclosed to the free world by the International Human Rights Watch, the Chinese concentration camps obtained by satellite images, the torture methods applied to Uyghur Turks thrown into the camps and the silence in the Turkish world.

Finally, Prof. Dr. Mehmet Öz, President of Turkish Hearths, addressed the speakers. Öz pointed out that the events in East Turkistan are very different from the events taking place in other occupied Turkish lands and that the Turkish world should take a stand on East Turkistan against China, which is in need of itself.

At the end of the programme, Uyghur pilaf was served to the participants.