The East Turkestan Government in Exile has criticized what it described as the new Syrian government’s alignment with China in the fields of “security” and “counterterrorism”, accusing Damascus of adopting Beijing’s narrative on the East Turkestan issue and of backing what it calls the ongoing “genocide, colonization, and occupation” of the region.
In a statement issued from Washington on Tuesday, 18 November, the government in exile said this rapprochement represents “a direct betrayal of the sacrifices of the Uyghurs” who fought in Syria, stressing that their role was “decisive” in enabling factions led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, which has since dissolved itself, to topple the former Syrian regime.
Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani visited China on 17 November, after which the Syrian Foreign Ministry issued a joint statement with the Chinese Foreign Ministry affirming Syria’s support for the “One China” principle and its recognition of Chinese government sovereignty, including rejection of any interference in China’s internal affairs and backing Beijing’s efforts to achieve national reunification.
The two sides also stressed the fight against terrorism in all its forms and the strengthening of security coordination and cooperation between the two countries.
The East Turkestan Government in Exile said tens of thousands of Uyghurs were drawn into the Turkistan Islamic Party (TIP) in Syria through Chinese and Turkish intelligence networks and were promised that later support would be directed toward the “liberation of East Turkestan”.
According to the statement, these fighters were deployed alongside Jabhat al Nusra before it rebranded as Hayat Tahrir al Sham, and thousands of them were killed in battles as “cannon fodder”.
The statement said the Turkistan Islamic Party was founded in Pakistan in 1997 as “a project subordinate to Chinese intelligence that aims to smear the East Turkestan independence movement by tying it to terrorism and global jihad”. It argued that the party diverted Uyghurs away from their national cause, pulled them into proxy conflicts, and gave Beijing a fabricated pretext to promote allegations of Uyghur terrorism.
Mamtimin Ala, head of the Government in Exile, said the new Syrian government’s pledge to expand security cooperation with China “represents a profound betrayal of the thousands of Uyghurs who were killed while taking part in the Syrian revolution”. He added, “Syria should have condemned China’s policy of colonization, genocide, and occupation in East Turkestan, not supported it.”
According to the statement, China has exploited the presence of Uyghur fighters in Syria since 2014 to justify its campaign against them, which the Government in Exile describes as a “systematic genocide” that has included the detention of millions of Uyghurs, Kyrgyz, and Kazakhs in camps and prisons, the imposition of forced labor, the forced sterilization of hundreds of thousands of women, the abortion of millions of fetuses, the separation of more than one million children from their families, the destruction of more than 16,000 mosques, the burning of millions of religious books, and the criminalization of religious and cultural practices.
The statement insists that “the struggle of East Turkestan is a legitimate national liberation movement tied to the right to self-determination and decolonization” and has nothing to do with “terrorism, extremism, separatism, or religious fundamentalism”. It maintains that the majority of Uyghurs in Syria are “victims of Chinese-Turkish intelligence manipulation” who should be “separated from the leadership of the Turkistan Islamic Party, which is linked to Chinese and Turkish intelligence, and protected and rehabilitated, not handed over”.
Salih Hudayar, foreign minister of the Government in Exile, called on the Syrian government to “halt any steps that would endanger the safety of Uyghurs in Syria or undermine the East Turkestan struggle”. He expressed his administration’s readiness to engage with Syria, the United States, and other countries “to search for solutions that protect Uyghurs, enhance global security, and support the right of the people of East Turkestan to freedom, independence, and sovereignty”.
The Syrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates had earlier denied handing over Uyghur fighters to China, after Agence France-Presse reported on 17 November, quoting two Syrian sources, that Syria intended to transfer Uyghur fighters to China.
Criticism of integrating Uyghurs into the army
The East Turkestan Government in Exile had already voiced “deep concern” on 4 June over reports that Uyghur fighters were being integrated into the Syrian army under arrangements it says are supported by the United States.
In a statement posted on its Facebook page at the time, it stressed that the Turkistan Islamic Party has nothing to do with the national independence cause and has, since its founding, functioned as an extreme ideological tool and a front used by Chinese intelligence to discredit the liberation movement by associating it with terrorism and global jihad.
The Government in Exile explained that thousands of Uyghurs had been lured to Syria with misleading promises under coordination between Chinese and Turkish intelligence agencies, only to be used later as expendable fighters in regional conflicts unrelated to their cause.
It believes that the priority should be to separate these fighters from their “infiltrated” leadership and to rehabilitate them based on authentic Islamic principles and a national East Turkestani identity. It also expressed readiness to cooperate with Washington and partner states on a solution that guarantees the safety of Uyghurs in Syria, maintains global security, and aligns with the aspirations of the people of East Turkestan for freedom, independence, and sovereignty.
What is the East Turkestan Government in Exile?
The East Turkestan Government in Exile presents itself as the democratically elected representative of the people of East Turkestan, after the region lost its independence with the overthrow of the East Turkestan Republic in 1949 by China, prompting its political and military leaders to seek refuge abroad.
Over decades of Chinese rule, multiple entities emerged attempting to represent the cause overseas, but none were able to form a government in exile due to the lack of a host state.
On 14 September 2004, the East Turkestan Government in Exile was formally established in Washington at the initiative of Uyghur and Kazakh leaders and pro-independence figures representing more than 12 diaspora organizations, following the dissolution of the East Turkestan National Congress.
The government operates through a democratic structure that includes an elected parliament, a president, a vice president, a prime minister, and a parliamentary presidium. Its members are elected every four years by East Turkestani communities in countries of asylum. Its work is centered on seeking to restore East Turkestan’s independence, strengthen human rights, religious freedom, and democracy for the people of the region inside and outside the homeland, and maintain a broad network of relations and coordination with Uyghur and Turkestani organizations worldwide to support its political and advocacy goals.
Syrian Foreign Ministry denies handing over Uyghur fighters to China
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