SOO MAAL Posted May 12, 2006 Uyghur Uyghur From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search Uyghur Total population 8-10 million (est.) Regions with significant populations China / Xinjiang, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkey, Russia Language Uyghur Religion Sunni Islam Related ethnic groups Uzbeks, other Turkic peoples The Uyghur (Uyghur: ئۇيغۇر; Turkish: Uygur; Uighur Simplified Chinese: ç»´å¾å°”; Traditional Chinese: ç¶å¾çˆ¾; Pinyin: Wéiwú'Ä›r) are a Turkic people, forming one of the 56 ethnic groups officially recognized by the People's Republic of China. In China, Uyghurs live primarily in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (also known as East Turkestan). A community of Uyghurs also exists in Taoyuan County of Hunan province in South-central China. Contents [hide] 1 Identity 2 History 3 Uyghurs today 4 Notable Uyghurs 5 References 6 External links 6.1 Language 6.2 Guantanamo Uyghur FOIA Documents 7 See also [edit] Identity Historically the term "Uyghur" (meaning "united" or "allied") was applied to a group of Turkic-speaking tribes that lived in what is now Mongolia. Along with the so-called Kokturks (also known as Gokturks) the Uyghurs were one of the largest and most enduring Turkic peoples living in Central Asia. They existed as a tribal federation ruled by the Juan Juan from 460–545, and then by the Hephthalites from 541–565 before being taken over by the Gokturk empire (Khaganate). Map of the Western (purple) and Eastern (blue) Gokturk khaganates at their height, c. AD 600. Lighter areas show direct rule; darker areas show spheres of influence.Known as HuÃhé (Simplified Chinese: 回纥; Traditional Chinese: 回紇), Weihu or Huihu in Chinese sources, under Khutlugh Bilge Kul Khagan's leadership, they established a Khaganate (empire) in the 8th century, replacing the Gokturks. Their ethnonym Huihu is the origin of the term HuÃhuà (回回) that came to be used for Muslim in Chinese and is now used for the Template:Hui people in China. They live mainly in Xinjiang, China, where they are the largest ethnic group, together with Han Chinese, Uzbeks, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz and Russians. [edit] History Before the Uyghur Empire was founded the steppes from Mongolia to Central Asia were ruled by the Turkic Empire. The first Turkic Empire was destroyed by Emperor Li Shi-min of the Tang Dynasty and the second Turkic Empire was rebuilt during the reign of Empress Wu. At the time the Uyghur was a subject tribe under the Turks. In 744 the Uyghur, together with other subject tribes (the Basmil and Kharlukh), defeated the Turkic Empire and its allies and founded the Uyghur Empire at Ötüken. Their empire stretched from the Caspian Sea to Manchuria and lasted from 745 to 840. It was administered from the imperial capital Ordu Baliq. In 840, following a famine and a civil war, they were overrun by the Kirghiz, another Turkic people. The result was that the majority of tribal groups formerly under the umbrella of the Uyghurs migrated to what is now northern China, especially modern Xinjiang. Joined by other Turkic tribal groups living in Zungaria and the Tarim Basin, they established the Idiqut kingdom that lasted until 1209 when they submitted to the Mongols under Genghis Khan. Others, occupying the western Tarim Basin (Fergana Valley) and parts of Kazakhstan bordering the Muslim Turco-Tajik Sultanate, converted to Islam before the 11th century and built a federation with Muslim institutions, called Kara-Khanlik, whose princely dynasties are called Kara-Khanids by historians. After the rise of the Seljuk Turks in Iran the Kara-Khanids ('black khans dynasty') became nominal vassals of the Seljuks. Later they would serve the dual-suzerainty of the Kara-Khitans to the north and the Seljuks to the south. In his, now dated, book Empire Of The Steppes René Grousset reports that the Uyghurs took up a settled agricultural lifestyle in the Tarim. They had an opportunity to resume nomadism after the Kirghiz were driven out of Mongolia by other tribes but the Uyghurs chose not to do so. Map of the Uyghur Khaganate and areas under its dominion (in yellow) at its height, c. AD 820.A small number of Uyghurs also migrated to what is now the Gansu province in China, around the late 9th century, where they converted from Manicheism to Lamaism (Tibetan & Mongol Buddhism). Unlike other Turkic peoples further west they did not later convert to Islam. Thus they are unusual among Turkic peoples. Their descendants live there to this day, they are now known as Yugurs and are distinct from modern Uyghurs. Most inhabitants in the Besh Balik and Turfan regions did not convert to Islam until the 15th century expansion of the Yarkand Khanate, a Turko-Mongol successor state based in the western Tarim. Before converting to Islam, Uyghurs included Manichaeans, Buddhists and even some Nestorian Christians. It is probable that, genetically and culturally, modern Uyghurs descend from the nomadic tribes of Mongolia, from the Turkic subjects of the Mongols as well as from the many Indo-European-speaking groups who preceded them in the Tarim Basin oasis-cities. Today one can still see Uyghurs with light-coloured skin and hair. Currently Turkic and Islamic cultural elements are dominant in the Tarim, which reflects Turkic emigration to that region especially during the Mongol period. The same situation has resulted in the replacement of previous religious traditions by Islam. This has had an effect on modern politics because of a very long off-and-on relationship—politically, militarily and culturally—with China. Chinese rule was, in the remote past in these regions, solid at times until the An Lu Shan Rebellion and the Battle of Talas—both in the 750s. Chinese rule in the region existed, at times, as far back as AD 100 or so. This history goes a long way to explain the troubled relationship with past and present Chinese institutions and with the dominant Chinese ethnic group, the Han Chinese. Modern usage of the Uyghur ethnonym is used to give an ethnic definition to a traditional Central Asian distinction between nomads and settled farmers. It refers to the descendants of settled Turkic urban oasis-dwelling and agricultural populations of Xinjiang as opposed to those Turkic groups that remained nomadic. 'Uyghur' is widely credited as having been used for the first time in 1921 with the establishment of the Organization of Revolutionary Uyghur (Inqilawi Uyghur Itipaqi), a Communist nationalist group with intellectual and organizational ties to the Soviet Union. There is some evidence that Uyghur students and merchants living in Russia had already embraced the name prior this date, drawing on Russian studies that claimed a linkage between the historical khanate and Xinjiang's current inhabitants. Official recognition of the Uyghurs came under the rule of Sheng Shicai who deviated from the official Kuomintang five races of China stance in favor of a Stalinist policy of delineating fourteen distinct ethnic nationalities in Xinjiang. [edit] Uyghurs today The "Kokbayraq" flag. This flag is used by Uyghurs as a symbol of the East Turkestan independence movement. The Chinese government prohibits using the flag in the country.Following 9/11, China stated its support to the United States of America in the war on terror and many human rights organizations are concerned that this is being used as a pretext to crack down on ethnic Uyghurs. Most Uyghur exile groups today claim their cultural rights are being suppressed by the Chinese government and that the PRC responds to Uyghur expressions of their culture, religion or demands for independence with human rights violations. A large proportion of the Uyghur diaspora supports Pan-Turkic groups and there are several organisations such as the East Turkestan Party. The name Xinjiang is considered offensive by many advocates of independence who prefer to use historical or ethnic names such as Chinese Turkestan, East Turkestan (with Turkestan sometimes spelled as Turkistan) or Uyghuristan. [edit] Notable Uyghurs Famous Uyghurs and people claimed to be Uyghur include Tumen, Kul Tigin, Bilge Khan, Bayanchur Khan, Sultan Satuq Bughra Khan, Kashgarli Mehmud (Mehmud Kashgari), Yusuf Balasaguni (Yusuf Has Hajip), Al-Farabi (Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn Tarkhan ibn Uzalagh al-Farabi), Sultan Said Khan, Abdurashid Khan, Amannisa Khan, Yakub Beg , Ipar Khan (Xiang Fei), Ehmetjan Qasimi, Mehmet Emin Boghra, Turghun Almas, Alptekins (Isa Yusuf Alptekin & Erkin Alptekin), Rebiya Kadeer, Ismail Tiliwaldi and Wuer Kaixi. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SOO MAAL Posted May 12, 2006 Row breaks out between US and China over Guantanamo detainees PRINT FRIENDLY EMAIL STORY The World Today - Wednesday, 10 May , 2006 12:30:00 Reporter: Michael Rowland ELEANOR HALL: As Australian terrorism suspect David Hicks waits to learn his fate, the Bush administration's release of five other detainees from the US facility at Guantanamo Bay has sparked an international incident. After keeping five Chinese Muslims in limbo in detention for years, the Bush administration has now allowed them to seek asylum in Albania, saying it was concerned they may be tortured if they were returned to China. This has sparked a furious reaction from the Chinese Government, which says the men are terrorists not refugees, and is demanding that they be put on a plane to Beijing. This report from North America Correspondent Michael Rowland. MICHAEL ROWLAND: The five Chinese Muslims were picked up during the US invasion of Afghanistan in late 2001. They said they were heading to Turkey for work, but the Uyghurs quickly found themselves on a US military plane bound for Guantanamo Bay. The US initially believed the men were on their way to Afghanistan for terrorist training, as part of their separatist campaign against China. But a year ago the US determined they weren't so-called "enemy combatants" and were eligible for release. The big problem was America didn't want to send the Uyghurs back to China, fearing they'd be persecuted. And the Bush administration could find no other country that would accept the men. All that changed late last week when Albania agreed to take them in. The US described the move as an important humanitarian gesture, but the Chinese Government is distinctly unimpressed. (Sound of Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman speaking) "The five people accepted by Albania are by no means refugees but terrorist suspects with a close relationship with al-Qaeda," says this Foreign Ministry spokesman in Beijing. "We have launched solemn representations for the US and Albania. We think they should be repatriated to China as soon as possible." Ben Carrdus of the Uyghur American Association says the men would face a terrible fate if this was to happen. BEN CARRDUS: From being sent back to being executed, there's nothing, nothing in the process would resemble anything like a fair trial by any standard. It's Very likely that the police would have been there during interrogations - I mean, obviously the police were there during interrogations - no legal presence during interrogations. That's when torture very often happens. So any confessions, any evidence like that, is very likely extorted through torture. I mean this is all documented extremely thoroughly by people like Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International. It's not to say it's dead certain that it would happen, but it is likely. MICHAEL ROWLAND: The plight of the Chinese Muslims underscores a growing dilemma facing the Bush administration: just what to do with the hundreds of Guantanamo Bay detainees who are deemed not to be a long-term security threat. The US would like to transfer the detainees to their home countries, but negotiations are proving to be difficult. Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. DONALD RUMSFELD: And the problem is that we've been working very hard in an interagency environment to live with the rules and regulations as they exist to try to persuade other countries to accept the detainees currently in Guantanamo, and take them to their countries, and treat them in a humane manner and see that they're tried as appropriate. MICHAEL ROWLAND: Mr Rumsfeld is also growing increasingly frustrated with the legal challenges to the validity of the military commissions set up to try terror suspects. A key Supreme Court decision on the issue isn't expected until the end of next month. DONALD RUMSFELD: Regrettably, the court system in the United States has been used very skilfully by defence lawyers to the point where we have not been able to have military commissions try these people. So it's a catch-22 kind of a situation at the present time. But there's certainly no one in the Department of Defence who wants to get up in the morning and be the manager of detention facilities for people from other countries. And they would like to see the process finally cleared away so that military commissions could go forward. MICHAEL ROWLAND: The Supreme Court ruling will determine whether Australian detainee David Hicks faces a military hearing, more than four years after arriving at Guantanamo Bay. Hicks is also hoping his successful bid to become a British citizen will expedite his departure from the detention centre. But it remains to be seen when or if the US Government will allow UK consular officials into the camp to get the citizenship process underway. In Washington, this is Michael Rowland reporting for The World Today. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
