The Uyghurs,alternatively spelled Uighurs,Uygurs or Uigurs,are a Turkic ethnic group originating from and culturally affiliated with the general region of Central and East Asia. The Uyghurs are recognized as the titular nationality of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in Northwest China. They are one of China's 55 officially recognized ethnic minorities. The Uyghurs are recognized by the Chinese government as a regional minority and the titular people of Xinjiang.
The Turkistan Islamic Party (TIP) is a terrorist Uyghur Islamic extremist organization founded in Pakistan by Hasan Mahsum. Its stated goals are to establish an Islamic state in Xinjiang and Central Asia,and eventually a caliphate.
Yarkant County,also Shache County,also transliterated from Uyghur as Yakan County,is a county in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region,China,located on the southern rim of the Taklamakan Desert in the Tarim Basin. It is one of 11 counties administered under Kashgar Prefecture. The county,usually referred to as Yarkand in English,was the seat of an ancient Buddhist kingdom on the southern branch of the Silk Road and the Yarkand Khanate. The county sits at an altitude of 1,189 metres (3,901 ft) and as of 2003 had a population of 373,492.
Maralbexi County,Bachu County,and Chinese:巴尔楚克县) the former long Chinese name as well,is located in the southwest of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region,China. The county is under the administration of the Kashgar Prefecture. It has an area of 18,491 km2 (7,139 sq mi),and surrounds,but does not administer,the sub-prefecture-level city of Tumxuk. According to the 2002 census,it has a population of 380,000.
Payzawat County,also via SASM/GNC romanization as Payziwat County,and via Mandarin Chinese as Jiashi County is a county in Kashgar Prefecture,Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region,China,on the western rim of the Taklamakan Desert. To the east,the county borders Maralbexi County,to the south Yopurga County.
Pishan County as the official romanized name,also transliterated from Uyghur as Guma County,is a county within the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region and is under the administration of the Hotan Prefecture. It contains an area of 39,412 km2 (15,217 sq mi). According to the 2002 census,it has a population of 220,000. The county borders Maralbexi County and Makit County to the north,Karakax County,Hotan County and Kunyu to the east and Kargilik County to the west. The county includes lands near the Karakoram Pass which are part of the Aksai Chin area that is disputed between China and India.
The 2008 Kashgar attack occurred on the morning of 4 August 2008,in the city of Kashgar in the Western Chinese province of Xinjiang. According to Chinese government sources,it was a terrorist attack perpetrated by two men with suspected ties to the Uyghur separatist movement. The men reportedly drove a truck into a group of approximately 70 jogging police officers,and proceeded to attack them with grenades and machetes,resulting in the death of sixteen officers.
The Shaoguan incident was a civil disturbance which took place overnight on 25–26 June 2009 in Guangdong,China. A violent dispute erupted between migrant Uyghurs and Han Chinese workers at a toy factory in Shaoguan as a result of false allegations of the sexual assault of a Han Chinese woman. Groups of Han Chinese set upon Uyghur co-workers,leading to at least two Uyghurs being violently killed by angry Han Chinese men,and some 118 people injured,most of them Uyghurs.
Ilham Tohti is a Uyghur economist serving a life sentence in China,on separatism-related charges. He is a vocal advocate for the implementation of regional autonomy laws in China,was the host of Uyghur Online,a website founded in 2006 that discusses Uyghur issues,and is known for his research on Uyghur-Han relations. Ilham was summoned from his Beijing home and detained shortly after the July 2009 Ürümqi riots by the authorities because of his criticism of the Chinese government's policies toward Uyghurs in Xinjiang. Ilham was released on August 23 after international pressure and condemnation. He was arrested again in January 2014 and imprisoned after a two-day trial. For his work in the face of adversity he was awarded the PEN/Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write Award (2014),the Martin Ennals Award (2016),the Václav Havel Human Rights Prize (2019),and the Sakharov Prize (2019). Ilham is viewed as a moderate and believes that Xinjiang should be granted autonomy according to democratic principles.
Xinjiang,officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region,is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China (PRC),located in the northwest of the country at the crossroads of Central Asia and East Asia. Being the largest province-level division of China by area and the 8th-largest country subdivision in the world,Xinjiang spans over 1.6 million square kilometres (620,000 sq mi) and has about 25 million inhabitants. Xinjiang borders the countries of Afghanistan,Kazakhstan,Kyrgyzstan,Mongolia,Pakistan,Russia,Tajikistan,and India. The rugged Karakoram,Kunlun and Tian Shan mountain ranges occupy much of Xinjiang's borders,as well as its western and southern regions. The Aksai Chin and Trans-Karakoram Tract regions are administered by China but also claimed by India. Xinjiang also borders the Tibet Autonomous Region and the provinces of Gansu and Qinghai. The most well-known route of the historic Silk Road ran through the territory from the east to its northwestern border.
Kashgar or Kashi is a city in the Tarim Basin region of southern Xinjiang,China. It is one of the westernmost cities of China,located near the country's border with Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. For over 2,000 years,Kashgar was a strategically important oasis on the Silk Road between China,the Middle East,and Europe. It is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world and has a population of 711,300 people. Kashgar's urban area covers 15 km2 (5.8 sq mi),although its administrative area extends over 555 km2 (214 sq mi).
The 2010 Aksu bombing was a bombing in Aksu,Xinjiang,People's Republic of China that resulted in at least seven deaths and fourteen injuries when a Uyghur man detonated explosives in a crowd of police and paramilitary guards at about 10:30 on 19 August,using a three-wheeled vehicle. The assailant targeted police officers in the area,and most of the victims were also Uyghurs. Xinhua news agency reported that six people were involved in the attack,and two had died;the other four were detained by police.
The 2011 Hotan attack was a bomb-and-knife attack that occurred in Hotan,Xinjiang,China on 18 July 2011. According to witnesses,the assailants were a group of 18 young Uyghur men who opposed the local government's campaign against the burqa,which had grown popular among older Hotan women in 2009 but were also used in a series of violent crimes. The men occupied a police station on Nuerbage Street at noon,killing two security guards with knives and bombs and taking eight hostages. The attackers then yelled religious slogans,including ones associated with Jihadism,as they replaced the Chinese flag on top of a police station with another flag,the identity of which is disputed.
The 2011 Kashgar attacks were a series of knife and bomb attacks in Kashgar,Xinjiang,China on July 30 and 31,2011. On July 30,two Uyghur men hijacked a truck,killed its driver,and drove into a crowd of pedestrians. They got out of the truck and stabbed six people to death and injured 27 others. One of the attackers was killed by the crowd;the other was brought into custody. On July 31,a chain of two explosions started a fire at a downtown restaurant. A group of armed Uyghur men killed two people inside of the restaurant and four people outside,injuring 15 other people. Police shot five suspects dead,detained four,and killed two others who initially escaped arrest.
The Barin uprising was an armed conflict between Uyghur militants and Chinese government forces from 4 to 10 April 1990 in the township of Barin in Xinjiang,China. Violence began on the evening of 4 April,when a group of 200 to 300 Uyghur men attempted to breach the gates of the local government office in a protest against forced abortions of Uyghur women and Chinese rule in Xinjiang. The arrival of 130 armed police to quell the unrest was immediately met with armed resistance by militants among the crowd. Initial clashes that evening left six policemen dead and 13 wounded. The militants also captured five policemen,while the armed police captured 19 militants.
The 2012 Yecheng attack was a terrorist attack by Uyghur separatist extremists that occurred on February 28,2012,in Yecheng,Xinjiang,a remote town situated about 150 miles from China's border with Pakistan. Details of the attack are disputed:according to Chinese government reports and court documents,at around 6 p.m. that day,a group of eight Uyghur men led by religious extremist Abudukeremu Mamuti attacked pedestrians with axes and knives on Happiness Road. Local police fought with the attackers,ultimately killing all and capturing Mamuti. State-run media reported that one police officer died and four police were injured,while 15 pedestrians died from Mamuti's assault and 14 more civilians were injured. Chinese officials characterized the event as a "terrorist attack."
On 24 April 2013,ethnic clashes occurred in Marelbeshi (Bachu),Xinjiang,China. The violence left at least 21 people dead,including 15 police and officials.
On 30 April 2014,a bomb-and-knife attack occurred in the Chinese city of Ürümqi,Xinjiang. The terrorist attack killed 3 people,and injured 79 others. The attack coincided with the conclusion of a visit by Xi Jinping,General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party to the region.
On the early morning of Wednesday,30 July 2014,Juma Tahir,the imam of China's largest mosque,the Id Kah Mosque in northwestern Kashgar,was stabbed to death by three young male Uyghur extremists. Religious leaders across denominations condemned the attack.
The Xinjiang internment camps,officially called vocational education and training centers by the government of China,are internment camps operated by the government of Xinjiang and the Chinese Communist Party Provincial Standing Committee. Human Rights Watch says that they have been used to indoctrinate Uyghurs and other Muslims since 2017 as part of a "people's war on terror",a policy announced in 2014. The camps have been criticized by the governments of many countries and human rights organizations for alleged human rights abuses,including mistreatment,rape,and torture,with some of them alleging genocide. Some 40 countries around the world have called on China to respect the human rights of the Uyghur community,including countries such as Canada,Germany,Turkey,Honduras and Japan. The governments of more than 35 countries have expressed support for China's government. Xinjiang internment camps have been described as "the most extreme example of China's inhumane policies against Uighurs".
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