The Turkish leader deserves credit for mentioning the Uyghur issue at the 79th UN General Assembly. But a stronger tone is needed.
by Rebiya Kadeer and Kok Bayraq
On September 24, after a long silence, the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan mentioned the Uyghurs at the 79th UN General Assembly. “Based on the respect of China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, we have been conducting a close dialogue with China for the protection of the fundamental rights and freedoms of the Uyghur Turks, with whom we have strong historical, cultural and human ties;” he said.
Erdoğan’s mention of the Uyghur cause made us Uyghurs in exile happy.
Yes, even though Erdoğan’s speech did not mention our saddest situations, such as the fact that more than 3 million Uyghurs live in camps; or that Uyghur expatriates abroad have not been given the opportunity to even talk to their families in their homeland on the phone for seven years; or the vertical decrease in the birth rate of the Uyghur population in the last three years, we are still happy that our name was mentioned.
Because China’s current Uyghur policy—whether it is foreign relations or domestic policy—wants to make the world forget the Uyghur issue and hide from the eyes of the world the massacre of Uyghurs they are committing. This is also why China used all its diplomatic power last year to delay the publication of the Uyghur report prepared by UN experts for a year and also prevented the Uyghur issue from being discussed at the UN Human Rights Council. For the same purpose, China organizes “Xinjiang visits” from neighboring and Muslim countries and organizations every month of every year, shows fake scenes, covers up the crime of genocide, and even encourages our Muslim brothers and neighboring countries to praise its crimes. Therefore, Erdoğan’s mentioning our name at the UN is a historic event, something that inspires and gives us hope.
Yes, we are happy—but our joy is not at its peak because we were mentioned after the problems of Palestine, Ukraine, Syria, and Rohingya. We are grateful to Erdoğan, but it is not enough, because we did not hear a strong tone against China, an urgent call to the international community, and a concrete demand and initiative, even if limited to a sentence, to improve our situation.
However, Erdoğan’s not forgetting the Uyghur issue and his presentation of a subject that China, his ally in many international arenas, does not want to listen to, has pleased not only us but also the states and organizations that support justice and human rights in the world, especially those that are brave enough to raise their voice for the oppressed. We find honesty and courage in this call for justice and rights.
It is known to everyone who pays attention to the Uyghur issue and whose mind and consciences are alert, that while blood is flowing in war and conflict areas in the world today, in the camps and prisons of East Turkestan (Xinjiang to China) blood is turning into pus, and bodies are rotting. While other mothers cry in battlefields, embracing their children’s corpses, Uyghur mothers cannot access the bodies of their children or even information about their deaths, and are thrown into prisons just because they cry and complain. Bodies are counted in battlefields, but the bodies in the Uyghur genocide are not even counted. China does not allow them to be counted.
Our situation is much worse than the one experienced in the current war zones. Our problem deserves to be presented in a louder tone, and urgent calls should be made. We hope that the role of our brother nation Türkiye in the international arena will be even more active, its stance will be even more strong, and its side will always be separate from the side of the oppressors.
Rebiya Kadeer is a well-known Uyghur leader, businesswoman, and human rights activist. She served as the second President of the World Uyghur Congress between 2006 and 2017.
