East Turkestan Liberation Organization
Encyclopedia
The East Turkestan Liberation Organization ' onMouseout='HidePop("70427")' href="/topics/Uyghur_language">Uyghur
: Sharqiy Turkestan Azatliq Teshkilati; ETLO) is a secessionist Uyghur
organization that advocates an independent state called "East Turkestan
" in the Western Chinese
territory known as Xinjiang
. The organization was established in Turkey
in the late 1990s to fight against the government in Xinjiang, a territory in which no ethnicity forms a majority, but is inhabited in order of most populous to least by Uyghur, Han Chinese, Kazakh and other Turkic communities. Xinjiang
or East Turkestan
has a population of 18 million, eight million of which are Turkic-speaking Muslim Uighurs
. As a result of Chinese economic development policies, the demography of the region has altered - ethnic Han Chinese
population of the region has risen to 40% or 7.5 million people of the total population, as opposed to 6% in 1949. Kazakhs
, the third largest group, constitute 1.2 million. The Chinese government characterizes the East Turkestan Liberation Organization as a terrorist organization. ETLO is a designated terrorist organization by the governments of China, Kazakhstan
, and Kyrgyzstan
.
reports that "The Chinese government’s use of the term "separatism" refers to a broad range of activities, many of which amount to no more than peaceful opposition or dissent. Over the last three years, tens of thousands of people are reported to have been detained for investigation in the region and hundreds, possibly thousands, have been charged or sentenced under the Criminal Law; many Uighurs are believed to have been sentenced to death and executed for alleged "separatist" or "terrorist" offences, although the exact number is impossible to determine."
In 1998, ETLO members were accused by the government of China of organizing 15 arson
incidents in Ürümqi
, and in 1999, Istanbul
police arrested 10 ETLO members for a series of attacks on Chinese people in Turkey
.
Since 9/11, 2001, China has effectively used the international climate to build an international coalition against Uyghur separatist movements. On 15 December 2003, the Chinese Ministry of Public Security issued a list of "East Turkestan terrorists" and "terrorist organizations" which named four organizations and several individuals: the East Turkestan Liberation Organization (ETLO), the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM), the World Uyghur Youth Congress (WUYC) and the East Turkestan Information Centre (ETIC). Many analysts claim that Russian and Chinese authorities exaggerate the potency of the Uyghur groups to justify their repressive "counter-terror" policies.
In a 2002 Chinese documentary, "On the Spot Report: The Crimes of Eastern Turkestan Terrorist Power," Wang Mingshan, Deputy Director-General of the Yili-Kazak Autonomous Prefecture Public Security Department, claimed that in 1998 Mehmet Emin Hazret, the leader of the ETLO, ordered Hamid Mehmetjan, an Egypt
ian ETLO member, to go to China to recruit members, receive a delivery of weapons on 6 April, and to compile a list of targets for assassination and bombings in Xinjiang. Mingshan also claimed that police and ETLO members exchanged gunfire on 24 April 1998, and that members later stated during interrogation that they were trained at camps in Afghanistan
.
On 15 December 2003, the Chinese Ministry of Public Security issued a list of "East Turkestan terrorists" and "terrorist organizations" which named four organizations and several individuals: the East Turkestan Liberation Organization (ETLO), the East Turkestan Islamic Movement
(ETIM), the World Uyghur Youth Congress
(WUYC) and the East Turkestan Information Centre (ETIC).
At the same time, the official Chinese press initiated a campaign detailing "terrorist" incidents allegedly carried out by the individuals listed. Amnesty International
regarded these allegations "uncorroborated and no credible evidence was provided to substantiate these claims. Indeed, much of the "evidence" appeared to have been obtained from other individuals under interrogation. In view of the ongoing and widespread use of torture and ill-treatment by police in China, particularly to extract "confessions" from detained suspects, Amnesty International believes any "evidence" obtained in this way must be treated with deep suspicion." In January, Hazret, who avoids public appearances, called in to Radio Free Asia
to respond that ETLO wishes to work by peaceful means, but spoke of the "inevitability" of a military wing targeting the Chinese government. He also stated that the principal goal of the ETLO was to pursue independence through peaceful means, and denied any participation in terrorist activities or connections to the East Turkestan Islamic Movement
.
Amnesty International
has criticized the Chinese government response to ETLO, which it says include human rights
violations, such as torture and ill-treatment by police.
(SCO) members; China, Kazakhstan
, and Kyrgyzstan
, designated ETLO as a terrorist organization. According to Amnesty International, "the listing of ETIM and ETLO was in keeping with previous allegations made by China against these groups. Both were highlighted in China’s official report on "East Turkestan terrorists" of January 2002 and China’s allegations against ETIM (East Turkestan Islamic Movement) were bolstered in August 2002 when the US, closely followed by the UN formally classified ETIM as a "terrorist organization" after several requests from China. The American government refused China's request to recognize the East Turkestan Liberation Organization (ETLO) as a terrorist organization in December 2003.
The organization operates primarily in Xinjiang
, China
, but operates throughout Central Asia
and in Pakistan
. The ETLO is allied with the East Turkestan Islamic Movement
and the Taliban.
Kazakhstan banned the ETLO, designating it a terrorist organization, on 17 November 2006. The United States State Department says the ETLO has engaged "small politically-motivated bombings and armed attacks". The Global Defence Review allege that it is "widely acknowledged" that Al-Qaeda
gives funding and training to the ETLO and the East Turkestan Islamic Movement
, although there are doubts about the East Turkestan Islamic Movement's existence.
Uyghur language
Uyghur , formerly known as Eastern Turk, is a Turkic language with 8 to 11 million speakers, spoken primarily by the Uyghur people in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of Western China. Significant communities of Uyghur-speakers are located in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, and various other...
: Sharqiy Turkestan Azatliq Teshkilati; ETLO) is a secessionist Uyghur
Uyghur people
The Uyghur are a Turkic ethnic group living in Eastern and Central Asia. Today, Uyghurs live primarily in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in the People's Republic of China...
organization that advocates an independent state called "East Turkestan
East Turkestan
East Turkestan is a controversial political term with multiple meanings depending on context and usage...
" in the Western Chinese
Western China
Western China , refers to the western part of China. In the definition of the Chinese government, Western China covers six provinces: Gansu, Guizhou, Qinghai, Shaanxi, Sichuan, and Yunnan; one municipality: Chongqing; and three autonomous regions: Ningxia, Tibet, and Xinjiang.-Administrative...
territory known as Xinjiang
Xinjiang
Xinjiang is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. It is the largest Chinese administrative division and spans over 1.6 million km2...
. The organization was established in Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
in the late 1990s to fight against the government in Xinjiang, a territory in which no ethnicity forms a majority, but is inhabited in order of most populous to least by Uyghur, Han Chinese, Kazakh and other Turkic communities. Xinjiang
Xinjiang
Xinjiang is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. It is the largest Chinese administrative division and spans over 1.6 million km2...
or East Turkestan
East Turkestan
East Turkestan is a controversial political term with multiple meanings depending on context and usage...
has a population of 18 million, eight million of which are Turkic-speaking Muslim Uighurs
Uyghur people
The Uyghur are a Turkic ethnic group living in Eastern and Central Asia. Today, Uyghurs live primarily in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in the People's Republic of China...
. As a result of Chinese economic development policies, the demography of the region has altered - ethnic Han Chinese
Han Chinese
Han Chinese are an ethnic group native to China and are the largest single ethnic group in the world.Han Chinese constitute about 92% of the population of the People's Republic of China , 98% of the population of the Republic of China , 78% of the population of Singapore, and about 20% of the...
population of the region has risen to 40% or 7.5 million people of the total population, as opposed to 6% in 1949. Kazakhs
Kazakhs
The Kazakhs are a Turkic people of the northern parts of Central Asia ....
, the third largest group, constitute 1.2 million. The Chinese government characterizes the East Turkestan Liberation Organization as a terrorist organization. ETLO is a designated terrorist organization by the governments of China, Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan , officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Ranked as the ninth largest country in the world, it is also the world's largest landlocked country; its territory of is greater than Western Europe...
, and Kyrgyzstan
Kyrgyzstan
Kyrgyzstan , officially the Kyrgyz Republic is one of the world's six independent Turkic states . Located in Central Asia, landlocked and mountainous, Kyrgyzstan is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the southwest and China to the east...
.
History
Amnesty InternationalAmnesty International
Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...
reports that "The Chinese government’s use of the term "separatism" refers to a broad range of activities, many of which amount to no more than peaceful opposition or dissent. Over the last three years, tens of thousands of people are reported to have been detained for investigation in the region and hundreds, possibly thousands, have been charged or sentenced under the Criminal Law; many Uighurs are believed to have been sentenced to death and executed for alleged "separatist" or "terrorist" offences, although the exact number is impossible to determine."
In 1998, ETLO members were accused by the government of China of organizing 15 arson
Arson
Arson is the crime of intentionally or maliciously setting fire to structures or wildland areas. It may be distinguished from other causes such as spontaneous combustion and natural wildfires...
incidents in Ürümqi
Ürümqi
Ürümqi , formerly Tihwa , is the capital of Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China, in the northwest of the country....
, and in 1999, Istanbul
Istanbul
Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...
police arrested 10 ETLO members for a series of attacks on Chinese people in Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
.
Since 9/11, 2001, China has effectively used the international climate to build an international coalition against Uyghur separatist movements. On 15 December 2003, the Chinese Ministry of Public Security issued a list of "East Turkestan terrorists" and "terrorist organizations" which named four organizations and several individuals: the East Turkestan Liberation Organization (ETLO), the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM), the World Uyghur Youth Congress (WUYC) and the East Turkestan Information Centre (ETIC). Many analysts claim that Russian and Chinese authorities exaggerate the potency of the Uyghur groups to justify their repressive "counter-terror" policies.
In a 2002 Chinese documentary, "On the Spot Report: The Crimes of Eastern Turkestan Terrorist Power," Wang Mingshan, Deputy Director-General of the Yili-Kazak Autonomous Prefecture Public Security Department, claimed that in 1998 Mehmet Emin Hazret, the leader of the ETLO, ordered Hamid Mehmetjan, an Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
ian ETLO member, to go to China to recruit members, receive a delivery of weapons on 6 April, and to compile a list of targets for assassination and bombings in Xinjiang. Mingshan also claimed that police and ETLO members exchanged gunfire on 24 April 1998, and that members later stated during interrogation that they were trained at camps in Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
.
On 15 December 2003, the Chinese Ministry of Public Security issued a list of "East Turkestan terrorists" and "terrorist organizations" which named four organizations and several individuals: the East Turkestan Liberation Organization (ETLO), the East Turkestan Islamic Movement
East Turkestan Islamic Movement
The East Turkestan Islamic Movement The East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM) The East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM) (also known as the Turkistan Islamic Movement (TIM), and other names; is a Waziri based mujahideen organization. Its stated goals are the independence of East Turkestan and the...
(ETIM), the World Uyghur Youth Congress
World Uyghur Congress
The World Uyghur Congress is an international organisation of exiled Uyghur groups said to "represent the collective interest of the Uyghur people" both inside and outside of the Xinjiang Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China...
(WUYC) and the East Turkestan Information Centre (ETIC).
At the same time, the official Chinese press initiated a campaign detailing "terrorist" incidents allegedly carried out by the individuals listed. Amnesty International
Amnesty International
Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...
regarded these allegations "uncorroborated and no credible evidence was provided to substantiate these claims. Indeed, much of the "evidence" appeared to have been obtained from other individuals under interrogation. In view of the ongoing and widespread use of torture and ill-treatment by police in China, particularly to extract "confessions" from detained suspects, Amnesty International believes any "evidence" obtained in this way must be treated with deep suspicion." In January, Hazret, who avoids public appearances, called in to Radio Free Asia
Radio Free Asia
Radio Free Asia is a private, nonprofit corporation that operates a radio station and Internet news service. RFA was founded by an act of the US Congress and is operated by the Broadcasting Board of Governors . The RFA is supported in part by grants from the federal government of the United States...
to respond that ETLO wishes to work by peaceful means, but spoke of the "inevitability" of a military wing targeting the Chinese government. He also stated that the principal goal of the ETLO was to pursue independence through peaceful means, and denied any participation in terrorist activities or connections to the East Turkestan Islamic Movement
East Turkestan Islamic Movement
The East Turkestan Islamic Movement The East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM) The East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM) (also known as the Turkistan Islamic Movement (TIM), and other names; is a Waziri based mujahideen organization. Its stated goals are the independence of East Turkestan and the...
.
Amnesty International
Amnesty International
Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...
has criticized the Chinese government response to ETLO, which it says include human rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
violations, such as torture and ill-treatment by police.
Shanghai Cooperation Organization
Shanghai Cooperation OrganizationShanghai Cooperation Organization
The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation or SCO , is an intergovernmental mutual-security organisation which was founded in 2001 in Shanghai by the leaders of China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan...
(SCO) members; China, Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan , officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Ranked as the ninth largest country in the world, it is also the world's largest landlocked country; its territory of is greater than Western Europe...
, and Kyrgyzstan
Kyrgyzstan
Kyrgyzstan , officially the Kyrgyz Republic is one of the world's six independent Turkic states . Located in Central Asia, landlocked and mountainous, Kyrgyzstan is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the southwest and China to the east...
, designated ETLO as a terrorist organization. According to Amnesty International, "the listing of ETIM and ETLO was in keeping with previous allegations made by China against these groups. Both were highlighted in China’s official report on "East Turkestan terrorists" of January 2002 and China’s allegations against ETIM (East Turkestan Islamic Movement) were bolstered in August 2002 when the US, closely followed by the UN formally classified ETIM as a "terrorist organization" after several requests from China. The American government refused China's request to recognize the East Turkestan Liberation Organization (ETLO) as a terrorist organization in December 2003.
The organization operates primarily in Xinjiang
Xinjiang
Xinjiang is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. It is the largest Chinese administrative division and spans over 1.6 million km2...
, China
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
, but operates throughout Central Asia
Central Asia
Central Asia is a core region of the Asian continent from the Caspian Sea in the west, China in the east, Afghanistan in the south, and Russia in the north...
and in Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
. The ETLO is allied with the East Turkestan Islamic Movement
East Turkestan Islamic Movement
The East Turkestan Islamic Movement The East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM) The East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM) (also known as the Turkistan Islamic Movement (TIM), and other names; is a Waziri based mujahideen organization. Its stated goals are the independence of East Turkestan and the...
and the Taliban.
Kazakhstan banned the ETLO, designating it a terrorist organization, on 17 November 2006. The United States State Department says the ETLO has engaged "small politically-motivated bombings and armed attacks". The Global Defence Review allege that it is "widely acknowledged" that Al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda is a global broad-based militant Islamist terrorist organization founded by Osama bin Laden sometime between August 1988 and late 1989. It operates as a network comprising both a multinational, stateless army and a radical Sunni Muslim movement calling for global Jihad...
gives funding and training to the ETLO and the East Turkestan Islamic Movement
East Turkestan Islamic Movement
The East Turkestan Islamic Movement The East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM) The East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM) (also known as the Turkistan Islamic Movement (TIM), and other names; is a Waziri based mujahideen organization. Its stated goals are the independence of East Turkestan and the...
, although there are doubts about the East Turkestan Islamic Movement's existence.
See also
- East Turkestan independence movementEast Turkestan independence movementThe East Turkestan independence movement is a broad term that refers to advocates of an independent, self-governing East Turkestan in the region now known as Xinjiang, an autonomous region in the People's Republic of China.-Historical background:...
- East Turkestan Islamic MovementEast Turkestan Islamic MovementThe East Turkestan Islamic Movement The East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM) The East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM) (also known as the Turkistan Islamic Movement (TIM), and other names; is a Waziri based mujahideen organization. Its stated goals are the independence of East Turkestan and the...
- 2008 Uyghur unrest2008 Uyghur unrestThe 2008 Uyghur unrest is a loose name for incidents of communal violence by Uyghur people in Hotan and Qaraqash county of Western China, with incidents in March, April, and August 2008...