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<div class="header reader-header reader-show-element"> <font
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<h1 class="reader-title">Inside the World Uyghur Congress: The
US-backed right-wing regime change network seeking the ‘fall
of China’</h1>
<div class="credits reader-credits">Ajit Singh - March 5, 2020<br>
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<h3>While posing as a grassroots human rights
organization, the World Uyghur Congress is a US-funded
and directed separatist network that has forged
alliances with far-right ethno-nationalist groups. The
goal spelled out by its founders is clear: the
destabilization of China and regime change in Beijing.</h3>
<h3>By Ajit Singh</h3>
<p><span>In recent years, few stories have generated as
much outrage in the West as the condition of Uyghur
Muslims in China. Reporting on the issue is typically
represented through seemingly spontaneous leaks of
information and expressions of resistance by Uyghur
human rights activists struggling to be heard against
a tyrannical Chinese government.</span></p>
<p><span>True or not, nearly everything that appears in
Western media accounts of China’s Uyghur Muslims is
the product of a carefully conceived media campaign
generated by an apparatus of right-wing,
anti-communist Uyghur separatists funded and trained
by the US government.</span></p>
<p><span>A central gear in Washington’s new Cold War
against China, this network has a long history of
relationships with the US national security state and
far-right ultra-nationalists.</span></p>
<p><span>At the heart of this movement is the </span><a
href="https://www.uyghurcongress.org/en/introducing-the-world-uyghur-congress/"><span>World
Uyghur Congress</span></a><span> (WUC), an
international Uyghur organization that claims to be
engaged in a “peaceful, nonviolent, and democratic”
struggle for “human rights.” The WUC considers China’s
northwestern Xinjiang region to be East Turkestan, and
sees its Uyghur Muslim inhabitants not as Chinese
citizens but instead as members of a pan-Turkic nation
stretching from Central Asia to Turkey. </span></p>
<p>As this investigation establishes, the WUC is not a
grassroots movement, but a US government-backed umbrella
for several Washington-based outfits that also rely
heavily on US funding and direction. Today, it is the
main face and voice of a separatist operation dedicated
to destabilizing the Xinjiang region of China and
ultimately toppling the Chinese government.</p>
<p>While seeking to orchestrate a color revolution with
the aim of regime change in Beijing, the WUC and its
offshoots have forged ties with the Grey Wolves, a
far-right Turkish organization that has been actively
engaged in sectarian violence from Syria to East Asia.</p>
<p>None of these links seem to have troubled the WUC’s
sponsors in Washington. If anything, they have added to
the network’s appeal, consolidating it as one of the
most potent political weapons the US wields in its new
Cold War against China.</p>
<h3><strong>The World Uyghur Congress, brought to you by
the US government’s regime change arm</strong></h3>
<p><span>The WUC promotes itself as an “opposition
movement against Chinese occupation of East Turkistan
[sic]” that “represent[s] the collective interests”
and is “the sole legitimate organization of the Uyghur
people both in East Turkistan and abroad.”</span></p>
<p><span>Headquartered in Munich, Germany, the WUC is </span><a
href="https://www.uyghurcongress.org/en/affiliate-organizations/"><span>an
international umbrella organization</span></a><span>
with a network of 33 affiliates in 18 countries around
the world. The WUC and its affiliates — particularly
the Uyghur American Association, Uyghur Human Rights
Project, and Campaign for Uyghurs — are cited in
nearly every Western media report on China’s Uyghur
Muslims. </span><b><br>
</b></p>
<p><span>From its inception, the WUC has been backed by
the <a
href="https://thegrayzone.com/2018/08/20/inside-americas-meddling-machine-the-us-funded-group-that-interferes-in-elections-around-the-globe/">National
Endowment for Democracy</a> (NED). With millions in
US taxpayer money, the NED and its subsidiaries have
backed opposition parties, “civil society” groups, and
media organizations in countries targeted by the US
for regime change.</span></p>
<p>Philip Agee, the late CIA whistleblower, described the
work of the NED as a more sophisticated version of the
old-fashioned covert operations that Langley used to
engineer. “Nowadays,” Agee explained, “instead of having
the CIA going around behind the scenes and trying to
manipulate the process by inserting money here and
giving instructions secretly and so forth, they have now
a sidekick, which is this National Endowment for
Democracy, NED.”</p>
<p>Agee’s assessment was confirmed by Allen Weinstein, a
former Trotskyist and founding member of the NED.
Weinstein <a
href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/opinions/1991/09/22/innocence-abroad-the-new-world-of-spyless-coups/92bb989a-de6e-4bb8-99b9-462c76b59a16/">told
the Washington Post in 1991</a>, “A lot of what we do
today was done covertly 25 years ago by the CIA.”</p>
<p><span>When the WUC was founded in 2004, the NED’s </span><span>then-senior
Asia program officer, Louisa Coan Greve</span>, <a
href="https://www.voanews.com/archive/new-uighur-leader-calls-non-violent-opposition-china-2004-06-30"><span>praised
the move</span></a><span> as a “great
accomplishment.” </span></p>
<p><span>The NED has provided the WUC with </span><a
href="https://www.ned.org/wp-content/themes/ned/search/grant-search.php?organizationName=World+Uyghur+Congress®ion=&projectCountry=&amount=&fromDate=&toDate=&projectFocus%5B%5D=&search=&maxCount=25&orderBy=Year&start=1&sbmt=1"><span>millions
of dollars in funding</span></a><span>, including
$1,284,000 since 2016 alone, and millions of dollars
in additional funding to WUC-affiliate organizations.
The grants are earmarked for training Uyghur activists
and youth in media advocacy and lobbying “to raise
awareness of and support for Uyghur human rights,”
with a particular focus on US Congress, European
Parliament, and the United Nations. </span></p>
<p>In 2018, the NED provided the WUC and its offshoots
with close to $665,000, according to the <a
href="https://www.ned.org/region/asia/xinjiang-east-turkestan-china-2018/">former
organization’s website</a>.</p>
<p><img data-attachment-id="21773"
data-permalink="https://thegrayzone.com/2020/03/05/world-uyghur-congress-us-far-right-regime-change-network-fall-china/wuc-ned-2/"
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<p><span>The NED has played a direct role in molding the
direction and politics of the WUC. Besides
honeycombing WUC-affiliated organizations with NED
operatives like Coan Greve, the NED has sponsored and
organized annual </span><a
href="https://www.uyghurcongress.org/en/world-uyghur-congress-set-to-stage-its-4th-general-assembly-and-leadership-training-workshop-in-tokyo/"><span>“Leadership
Training Seminars”</span></a><span> for the WUC
since 2007.</span></p>
<p><span>Many leading members of the WUC have also worked
in senior positions for Radio Free Asia (RFA) and
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL). These </span><a
href="https://www.nytimes.com/1977/12/26/archives/worldwide-propaganda-network-built-by-the-cia-a-worldwide-network.html"><span>US
government-run news agencies were created by the CIA</span></a><span>
during the Cold War to project propaganda into China
and the Soviet Union, and to stir up opposition to
communism on these countries’ frontiers.</span></p>
<p><span>Unsurprisingly, the WUC is tightly aligned with
Washington’s foreign policy agenda and hostile new
Cold War strategy which seeks to contain and impede
the rise of China. The WUC regularly meets with and
lobbies US and Western politicians, urging them to
isolate and </span><a
href="https://www.sueddeutsche.de/muenchen/muenchen-uiguren-weltkongress-china-cables-1.4696618"><span>“increase
the pressure on China”;</span></a> <a
href="https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3013293/uygur-leader-dolkun-isa-urges-pressure-china-he-receives-us-award"><span>ratchet
up economic sanctions;</span></a><span> </span><a
href="https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/uighur-exile-leader-calls-on-switzerland-to-curb-china-ties/45397286"><span>curb
ties with China</span></a><span>, and withdraw
Western companies from the region. </span></p>
<p><span>The </span><a
href="https://www.uyghurcongress.org/en/press-release-world-uyghur-congress-lauds-passage-of-uighur-act-of-2019/"><span>WUC
celebrated</span></a><span> the passage of </span><a
href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/dec/04/us-house-approves-uighur-act-calling-for-sanctions-on-chinas-politburo-xinjiang-muslim"><span>The
Uighur Act of 2019</span></a><span> by the US House
of Representatives, in December 2019. The bill, which
called on the Trump administration to enact sanctions
against the Chinese government, was the latest in a
string of anti-China achievements. </span></p>
<p><span>This regime change apparatus has made its
strongest impact through the media, providing a
constant source of self-styled Uyghur dissidents and
human rights horror stories to eager Western
reporters. The exposure the WUC and its affiliates
receive extends well beyond corporate media outlets
known for echoing Washington’s foreign policy talking
points; even ostensibly adversarial, progressive, and
left-wing media such as </span><a
href="https://theintercept.com/2019/12/29/why-dont-we-care-about-chinas-uighur-muslims/"><span>The
Intercept</span></a><span>, </span><a
href="https://www.democracynow.org/appearances/rushan_abbas"><span>Democracy
Now!</span></a><span> and </span><a
href="https://jacobinmag.com/2019/06/china-uyghur-persecution-concentration-camps"><span>Jacobin
Magazine</span></a> have provided them with an
uncritical platform.</p>
<p><span>While adopting the WUC’s narrative, these
self-styled alternative outlets never seem to mention
the close bonds the organization and its offshoots
have forged with the US national security state and
right-wing ethno-nationalist movements abroad. But the
relationships are no secret. In fact, they appear to
be a source of pride for WUC leadership.</span></p>
<h3><strong>The Far-Right Roots of the Uyghur “Human
Rights” Movement</strong></h3>
<p><span>Behind its carefully constructed human rights
brand, the Uyghur separatist movement emerged from
elements in Xinjiang which view socialism as “the
enemy of Islam,” and which sought Washington’s support
from the outset, presenting themselves as eager
foot-soldiers for US hegemony.</span></p>
<p><span>The founding father of this separatist movement
was Isa Yusuf Alptekin. His son, Erkin Alptekin,
founded the WUC and served as the organization’s
inaugural president. The senior Alptekin is referred
to as </span><a
href="https://www.uyghurcongress.org/en/dolkun-isa-statement-on-indias-recent-visa-cancellation/"><span>“our
late leader”</span></a><span> by the WUC and current
President Dolkun Isa.</span></p>
<p><span>Born at the turn of the 20th century, Alptekin
was the son of a local government Xinjiang official.
He received a largely Islamic education as a youth, as
his family intended for him to be a religious scholar.
</span></p>
<p><span>During the Chinese Civil War that raged between
the nationalists and communists from 1945 to ’49, </span><a
href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02634939108400758"><span>Alptekin
served under the nationalist Kuomintang (KMT)
administration</span></a><span> in Xinjiang.
Throughout this period, </span><a
href="https://books.google.ca/books?id=-IbQvd13uToC&pg=PA21&lpg=PA21&dq=1.+China+1945+to+1960s+Was+Mao+Tse-tung+just+paranoid?&source=bl&ots=cJy3MeDfgD&sig=ACfU3U24J70qyNbOoz1wL1ISX0CKWmtFPA&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjEnvvp-7jnAhVuHzQIHcTiB5gQ6AEwAHoECAoQAQ#v=onepage&q=1.%20China%201945%20to%201960s%20Was%20Mao%20Tse-tung%20just%20paranoid%3F&f=false"><span>the
KMT received massive military and economic backing
from the United States</span></a><span> — including
billions of dollars in cash and military hardware,
along with the deployment of tens of thousands of US
marines — in an effort to quash the Chinese
revolution. </span></p>
<p><a
href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02634939108400758"><span>At
the same time</span></a><span>, according to
historian Linda Benson, Alptekin “became more active
in both the Guomindang [sic] and national level
politics … and met several times with [KMT leader]
Chiang Kai-shek personally.” For Alptekin and fellow
travelers advancing Turkic nationalism and the
region’s eventual independence, “equally important was
the necessity of protecting the land they called East
Turkestan from Soviet and Chinese communism, both of
which were viewed as real and present dangers to
Islamic peoples.”</span></p>
<p><a
href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02634939108400758"><span>For
the KMT</span></a><span>, Uyghur activists like
Alptekin made prime candidates for Xinjiang’s
provincial administration. As Benson explained, “[t]he
essential qualification for such appointees… was that
they be anti-Communist and anti-Soviet.” In his
memoirs, Alptekin revealed that he “sought to
eliminate all Russians and leftists in the
government,” and said that “schools were also
encouraged to include religious instruction in their
curriculum.” </span></p>
<p><span>A fervent opponent of miscegenation, Alptekin </span><a
href="https://books.google.ca/books?redir_esc=y&id=suuXIhetjZcC&q=%22abducted+the+moslem+wives%22#v=snippet&q=%22abducted%20the%20moslem%20wives%22&f=false"><span>worked
to prevent intermarriage</span></a><span> between
Han Chinese and Uyghur Muslims. During his time in
government, religious fundamentalists “attacked the
houses of Han Chinese who were married to Moslem [sic]
women […] The mob abducted the Moslem wives, and in
some cases the unfortunate women were forced to marry
old Moslem men.” Though the violence killed numerous
Han Chinese, it proceeded without any government
response during Alptekin’s tenure. </span></p>
<p><span>As the civil war wore on, Alptekin grew
frustrated with the declining power of the
nationalists and </span><a
href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02634939108400758"><span>met
with US and British Consuls</span></a><span> in
Xinjiang, beseeching the twin powers to deepen their
intervention in China and the region. With the coming
victory of the Chinese Revolution, Alptekin went into
exile in 1949.</span></p>
<p><span>Alptekin eventually settled in Turkey, emerging
as the pre-eminent leader of the Uyghur separatist
movement throughout the latter half of the 20th
century. He set out to enlist international support
for the cause of East Turkestan independence, courting
leading US officials and far-right, neo-Ottomanist
ideologues in Turkey.</span></p>
<figure id="attachment_21774"
aria-describedby="caption-attachment-21774"
class="wp-caption"><img data-attachment-id="21774"
data-permalink="https://thegrayzone.com/2020/03/05/world-uyghur-congress-us-far-right-regime-change-network-fall-china/1-3/"
data-orig-file="https://i2.wp.com/thegrayzone.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/1.jpeg?fit=622%2C415&ssl=1"
data-orig-size="622,415" data-comments-opened="0"
data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}"
data-image-title="Alpektin" data-image-description=""
data-medium-file="https://i2.wp.com/thegrayzone.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/1.jpeg?fit=300%2C200&ssl=1"
data-large-file="https://i2.wp.com/thegrayzone.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/1.jpeg?fit=622%2C415&ssl=1"
src="https://i2.wp.com/thegrayzone.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/1.jpeg?resize=622%2C415&ssl=1"
alt="" width="498" height="332"><figcaption
id="caption-attachment-21774" class="wp-caption-text">Alptekin,
holding a book, leads a demonstration in support of
East Turkestan separatism in 1966. Alptekin stands in
front of a banner that reads, “Communism is the enemy
of Islam.”</figcaption></figure>
<p><span>The Uyghur separatist leader wrote to then-US
President Richard Nixon on several occasions, pleading
for him to support East Turkestan separatism. In a
1969 missive to the president, </span><a
href="https://digitalarchive.wilsoncenter.org/document/208601"><span>Alptekin
declared full-throated support for the US war on
Vietnam:</span></a><span> “We are hopeful and
pleased that the US, as a fortress of liberty, is
protecting captive nations,” he stated. Altepkin then
pleaded for his “Excellency” Nixon and the US, “the
most imminent protector of captive nations”, to
support East Turkestan independence. </span></p>
<p><span>Alptekin </span><a
href="https://digitalarchive.wilsoncenter.org/document/208596"><span>wrote
Nixon</span></a> the following year to<span> warn of
the evils of “Red China.” He branded the country “a
great menace which the whole world as led by the
United States of America is confronting. This menace
is now in the process of evolution to engulf the
earth. If time is allowed it can upset the balance of
the world to disadvantage the free nations.”</span></p>
<p><span>“The whole world has reason to be apprehensive of
Red China,” Alptekin insisted to Nixon, “for it is
likely to be an irresistible [sic] threat on earth…
China today is one of the biggest nations in the world
where the Marxist teach has been implemented… China
may prove to be a greater menace to all the world, and
this menace is likely to cause a total destruction to
the free nations if they are not prudent and
fore-sighted.” </span></p>
<p><span>Alptekin advised Nixon to combat the “Chinese war
of world conquest” by supporting separatist movements,
namely that of East Turkestan nationalists, and by
“speeding up the process of the dismemberment of the
Chinese empire.” </span></p>
<p><span>Mapping out a detailed regime change strategy for
Washington, Alptekin urged the US to generate support
for his cause among the “free world,” set up an
academic institute to study “every aspect” of minority
nationalities living within China, develop media
propaganda targeting minority nationalities by
operating “a radio network beaming at these peoples in
their respective languages”; “devise a plan to secure
[the] collaboration” of minority nationalities and
“train the children of the non-Chinese exiles abroad.”</span></p>
<p><span>In 1970, Alptekin travelled to Washington to meet
with members of US Congress and </span><a
href="https://digitalarchive.wilsoncenter.org/document/208600"><span>address
the House of Representatives</span></a><span>. </span></p>
<figure id="attachment_21775"
aria-describedby="caption-attachment-21775"
class="wp-caption"><img data-attachment-id="21775"
data-permalink="https://thegrayzone.com/2020/03/05/world-uyghur-congress-us-far-right-regime-change-network-fall-china/attachment/2/"
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data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}"
data-image-title="Alptekin 2"
data-image-description=""
data-medium-file="https://i2.wp.com/thegrayzone.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/2.jpg?fit=300%2C186&ssl=1"
data-large-file="https://i2.wp.com/thegrayzone.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/2.jpg?fit=630%2C391&ssl=1"
src="https://i2.wp.com/thegrayzone.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/2.jpg?resize=630%2C391&ssl=1"
alt="" width="498" height="309"><figcaption
id="caption-attachment-21775" class="wp-caption-text">Alptekin
and fellow East Turkestan separatists met with members
of US Congress on a trip to Washington in 1970.</figcaption></figure>
<h3>Forging bonds with fascistic, ethno-supremacist
Turkish nationalists</h3>
<p><span>While appealing for Washington’s support,
Alptekin developed strong ties with the Turkish
far-right. Their bonds rested on a solid foundation of
anti-communist zeal and pan-Turkic, neo-Ottomanist
nationalism. </span></p>
<p><span>On numerous occasions, Alptekin met with
Alparslan Türkeş a fascistic, ultra-nationalist who <a
href="https://thehill.com/opinion/international/394554-as-a-kingmaker-turkeys-nationalist-faction-could-bring-trouble">believed
ardently in Turkish ethnic superiority</a> over
minorities like Kurds and Armenians</span><span>, and
for whom the eradication of communism among the Turkic
populations of Soviet Central Asia and Xinjiang was </span><a
href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-alpaslan-turkes-1266076.html"><span>“the
dream he had most cherished”</span></a><span>.</span></p>
<figure id="attachment_21776"
aria-describedby="caption-attachment-21776"
class="wp-caption"><img data-attachment-id="21776"
data-permalink="https://thegrayzone.com/2020/03/05/world-uyghur-congress-us-far-right-regime-change-network-fall-china/attachment/3/"
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data-orig-size="885,612" data-comments-opened="0"
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data-image-title="Alptekin and Türkeş"
data-image-description=""
data-medium-file="https://i2.wp.com/thegrayzone.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/3.jpg?fit=300%2C207&ssl=1"
data-large-file="https://i2.wp.com/thegrayzone.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/3.jpg?fit=845%2C584&ssl=1"
src="https://i2.wp.com/thegrayzone.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/3.jpg?resize=845%2C584&ssl=1"
alt="" width="498" height="344"><figcaption
id="caption-attachment-21776" class="wp-caption-text">Alparslan
Türkeş and Isa Yusuf Alptekin</figcaption></figure>
<p>Türkeş was long-time leader of the far-right
Nationalist Action Party (MHP) and its paramilitary arm,
the Grey Wolves. According to the Washington Post, he <a
href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1980/07/06/mounting-political-violence-pushes-turkey-toward-chaos/70b212ca-8508-4e7f-ac49-d166491a0c4d/">headed
a murderous group of “right-wing terrorists”</a> who
are “blindly nationalist, fascist or nearly so, and bent
on the extermination of the Communists.” The fascistic
militant group killed numerous left-wing activists,
students, Kurds, and notoriously attempted to
assassinate Pope John Paul II.</p>
<p><span>With military training from the US, Türkeş </span><a
href="https://www.questia.com/magazine/1G1-19254727/turkey-s-terrorists-a-cia-legacy-lives-on"><span>co-founded
the Turkish cell</span></a><span> of </span><a
href="https://www.nytimes.com/1990/11/16/world/evolution-in-europe-italy-discloses-its-web-of-cold-war-guerrillas.html"><span>Operation
Gladio</span></a><span>, the US and NATO-backed
network of “stay behind” anti-communist paramilitary
groups that carried out numerous acts of terror and
sabotage across Europe.</span></p>
<p><span>Alptekin appears to have shared the hateful
politics of Türkeş and the Turkish far-right, often </span><a
href="http://www.konyayenigun.com/roportaj/isa-yusuf-alptekin-ve-turkiyenin-siyasal-hayatina-etkileri-h93883.html"><span>expressing
anti-Armenian views</span></a><span> including
denial of the Armenian genocide and claims that
Armenians were murderers of innocent Turks.</span></p>
<p><span>The Turkish right-wing has embraced the East
Turkestan separatist movement with open arms,
appealing to them as a key base of political support.
“The martyrs of East Turkestan are our martyrs,” </span><a
href="https://www.ft.com/content/f30ddb40-709c-11de-9717-00144feabdc0"><span>stated
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan</span></a><span>, then mayor of
Istanbul, as he inaugurated a park named in honor of
Alptekin, following the death of the Uyghur
nationalist in 1995.</span></p>
<p><span>In recent decades, the Uyghur separatist movement
has deepened its connections with Washington and the
US national security state. The WUC and its affiliate
organizations — including the Uyghur American
Association, Uyghur Human Rights Project, and Campaign
for Uyghurs — are made up of individuals with direct
ties to the US government, military, and regime change
establishment. </span></p>
<p><span>Inspired by pro-free market color revolutions
spawned by the US government in the former Soviet
republics of Central Asia, the WUC’s regime change
network has set out a clear goal of destabilizing
China and toppling its government.</span></p>
<h3>With vow to destroy China, WUC leaders earn Western
adulation and support</h3>
<p><span>In 2004, Erkin Alptekin was named the </span><a
href="https://www.voanews.com/archive/new-uighur-leader-calls-non-violent-opposition-china-2004-06-30"><span>inaugural
president of the WUC</span></a><span>. He is the son
of the far-right, ultra-nationalist father figure of
the Uyghur separatist movement, Isa Yusuf Alptekin,
whose background is explored later in this article.
From 1971 to 1995, Erkin Alptekin </span><a
href="https://web.archive.org/web/20100825080311/http://www.uyghurcongress.org/en/?cat=148"><span>worked
for</span></a><span> the US government-funded RFE/RL
media network.</span></p>
<p><span>Speaking at the funeral of his father, in 1995,
the junior Alptekin <a
href="https://youtu.be/sb6nqWNoJt4?t=1420">outlined
his anti-communist, separatist views and articulated
his desire to destroy China</a>: “Ten years ago no
one believed that the USSR would fall apart now you
can see that. Many Turkic countries have their freedom
now. Today the same situation applies to China. We
believed in the not too distant future we will see the
fall of China and the independence of East Turkestan.”</span></p>
<figure id="attachment_21777"
aria-describedby="caption-attachment-21777"
class="wp-caption"><img data-attachment-id="21777"
data-permalink="https://thegrayzone.com/2020/03/05/world-uyghur-congress-us-far-right-regime-change-network-fall-china/alptekin/"
data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/thegrayzone.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Alptekin.jpg?fit=1403%2C787&ssl=1"
data-orig-size="1403,787" data-comments-opened="0"
data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"1"}"
data-image-title="Alptekin" data-image-description=""
data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/thegrayzone.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Alptekin.jpg?fit=300%2C168&ssl=1"
data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/thegrayzone.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Alptekin.jpg?fit=845%2C474&ssl=1"
src="https://i0.wp.com/thegrayzone.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Alptekin.jpg?resize=845%2C474&ssl=1"
alt="" width="498" height="279"><figcaption
id="caption-attachment-21777" class="wp-caption-text">Erkin
Alptekin calling for the “fall of China” at his
father’s funeral. From the WUC film, <a
href="https://youtu.be/sb6nqWNoJt4">“Uyghur Leaders
in Exile.”</a></figcaption></figure>
<p><span>The </span><a
href="https://web.archive.org/web/20100825080311/http://www.uyghurcongress.org/en/?cat=148"><span>WUC
describes</span></a><span> Alptekin as “close
friend” of the Dalai Lama, the </span><a
href="https://www.nytimes.com/1998/10/02/world/world-news-briefs-dalai-lama-group-says-it-got-money-from-cia.html"><span>U.S-backed,
CIA-funded</span></a><span> figurehead for Tibetan
separatism. “We are working very closely with the
Dalai Lama,” </span><a
href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1997/02/23/ethnic-turmoil-roils-western-china/9a51e976-4b35-4218-82bc-3625398a69a5/"><span>Alptekin
told The Washington Post</span></a><span> in 1999.
“He is a very good example for us.”</span></p>
<p><span>In 2006, Erkin Alptekin was succeeded as WUC
President by Rebiya Kadeer, a </span><a
href="https://uyghuramerican.org/article/biographical-sketch-rebiya-kadeer.html"><span>self-described
multi-millionaire</span></a><span> real estate and
trading entrepreneur who profited off of China’s
economic reforms of the 1980s and claims to have once
been the seventh wealthiest individual in the country.
</span><a
href="https://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/01/us/politics/01gitmo.html"><span>According
to The New York Times</span></a><span>, Kadeer’s
“[d]issidence brought the end of her Audi, her three
villas and her far-flung business empire”. Kadeer’s
husband, SIdik Rouzi, worked for US government media
outlets Voice of America and Radio Free Asia.</span></p>
<p><span>During her tenure as WUC President, Kadeer met
with then-US President George W. Bush on several
occasions. As Bush waged his illegal war on Iraq and
persecuted Muslim American leadership under the
auspices of his so-called “war on terror,” Kadeer
appealed to the US head of state to take up the cause
of Uyghur Muslims. “I was deeply honored to meet with
the President,” </span><a
href="https://uyghuramerican.org/article/rebiya-kadeer-meets-president-bush-white-house.html"><span>Kadeer
stated.</span></a> She<span> “expressed gratitude
for President Bush’s demonstrated commitment to
promoting freedom and democratic reform in the PRC.”</span></p>
<p><img data-attachment-id="21780"
data-permalink="https://thegrayzone.com/2020/03/05/world-uyghur-congress-us-far-right-regime-change-network-fall-china/attachment/8/"
data-orig-file="https://i2.wp.com/thegrayzone.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/8.jpg?fit=225%2C300&ssl=1"
data-orig-size="225,300" data-comments-opened="0"
data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"1"}"
data-image-title="Kadeer and Bush"
data-image-description=""
data-medium-file="https://i2.wp.com/thegrayzone.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/8.jpg?fit=225%2C300&ssl=1"
data-large-file="https://i2.wp.com/thegrayzone.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/8.jpg?fit=225%2C300&ssl=1"
src="https://i2.wp.com/thegrayzone.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/8.jpg?resize=449%2C599&ssl=1"
alt="" width="449" height="599"></p>
<p><span>At the 2007 </span><a
href="http://www.democracyandsecurity.org/index.htm"><span>Democracy
& Security International Conference</span></a><span>
in Prague, </span><a
href="https://uyghuramerican.org/article/president-bush-praises-rebiya-kadeer-human-rights-defender.html"><span>Bush
praised Kadeer</span></a><span> as a human rights
defender in his address before the gathering. The
conference was organized by the Prague Security
Studies Institute, a think tank that aims to advance
free-market societies in post-communist states, and
the Adelson Institute for Strategic Studies, an
Israeli outfit named for ultra-Zionist Republican
casino baron Sheldon Adelson. </span><a
href="http://www.democracyandsecurity.org/partners.htm"><span>Conference
partners</span></a><span> included the US government
and NATO. </span></p>
<p><span>Kadeer kept close relationships with the Dalai
Lama and Vaclav Havel, the leader of the ‘Velvet
Revolution’ which brought down Czechoslovakia’s
communist government. Havel was a </span><a
href="https://www.nato.int/docu/review/articles/2012/05/07/vaclav-havel-remembering-the-big-little-man/index.html"><span>“major
proponent of NATO”</span></a><span> and instrumental
to the Western military alliance’s eastward expansion.
Kadeer </span><a
href="https://uyghuramerican.org/article/open-letter-rebiya-kadeer-death-v%C3%A1clav-havel.html"><span>described
Havel as</span></a><span> “an uncompromising
advocate for truth, justice and peace” and pointed to
his political accomplishments as an example to be
emulated for China. “Mr. Havel’s vision for the Czech
people […] speaks to Chinese democrats today”, wrote
Kadeer, following Havel’s death, and “contains […] the
seeds of a new era for political reform in China.”</span></p>
<figure id="attachment_21779"
aria-describedby="caption-attachment-21779"
class="wp-caption"><img data-attachment-id="21779"
data-permalink="https://thegrayzone.com/2020/03/05/world-uyghur-congress-us-far-right-regime-change-network-fall-china/attachment/9/"
data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/thegrayzone.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/9.jpg?fit=600%2C278&ssl=1"
data-orig-size="600,278" data-comments-opened="0"
data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}"
data-image-title="Kadeer" data-image-description=""
data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/thegrayzone.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/9.jpg?fit=300%2C139&ssl=1"
data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/thegrayzone.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/9.jpg?fit=600%2C278&ssl=1"
src="https://i0.wp.com/thegrayzone.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/9.jpg?resize=600%2C278&ssl=1"
alt="" width="498" height="231"><figcaption
id="caption-attachment-21779" class="wp-caption-text">Rebiya
Kadeer pictured with Frederik Willem De Klerk, Vaclav
Havel and the Dalai Lama.</figcaption></figure>
<p><span>The current President of WUC is Dolkun Isa,
winner of the 2019 Democracy Award from the NED. In
2016, Isa received a human rights award from the
far-right Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation,
which was established by the US government in 1993. In
his acceptance speech, Isa emphasized “the Uyghurs’
resistance to communism” and that “we will not stop
our work until we consign this destructive ideology,
in the words of Ronald Reagan, to ‘the ash heap of
history.’”</span></p>
<p><span>Isa regularly lobbies US and Western politicians
to intensify their new Cold War agenda by </span><a
href="https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3013293/uygur-leader-dolkun-isa-urges-pressure-china-he-receives-us-award"><span>enacting
economic sanctions</span></a><span> and </span><a
href="https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/uighur-exile-leader-calls-on-switzerland-to-curb-china-ties/45397286"><span>curbing
ties with China.</span></a> Among those he has met
with in recent years are<span> </span><a
href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-xinjiang-usa/u-s-voices-concern-on-chinas-muslim-crackdown-sanctions-weighed-idUSKCN1LR2O2"><span>Trump
administration White House officials</span></a><span>,
right-wing Republican </span><a
href="https://twitter.com/Dolkun_Isa/status/1023318822621798400"><span>Senator
Ted Cruz</span></a><span>, </span><a
href="https://twitter.com/usconsmunich/status/1148894259531137024"><span>the
US Consul General in Munich</span></a><span>, and
the fervently anti-China acting Director of National
Intelligence</span><span>, Richard Grenell.</span></p>
<blockquote data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">The <a
href="https://twitter.com/UyghurCongress?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@UyghurCongress</a>
president <a
href="https://twitter.com/Dolkun_Isa?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Dolkun_Isa</a>
met with the American Ambassador to Germany <a
href="https://twitter.com/RichardGrenell?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@RichardGrenell</a>
in Berlin to brief him on current crisis in East
Turkistan & discussed ways that the WUC could work
with him in the future. <a
href="https://t.co/yottOysIj6">pic.twitter.com/yottOysIj6</a></p>
<p>— WorldUyghurCongress (@UyghurCongress) <a
href="https://twitter.com/UyghurCongress/status/1147058356726718465?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July
5, 2019</a></p>
</blockquote>
<p><span>In November 2019, </span><a
href="https://twitter.com/Dolkun_Isa/status/1198912319650185216"><span>Isa
attended the Halifax International Security Forum</span></a><span>,
a gathering convened by NATO and the Canadian
Department of National Defence. There, he met with
leading Western political and military figures.</span></p>
<p><span>In January 2020, </span><a
href="https://jewishnews.timesofisrael.com/jewish-leaders-call-for-action-on-chinas-intolerable-treatment-of-uyghurs/"><span>Isa
was hosted at an event</span></a><span> organized by
the Board of Deputies of British Jews, a right-wing
British Israeli lobby group. At the event, Isa met
with with the ultra-Zionist organization Bnei Akiva,
whose leader </span><a
href="https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2014/07/02/bnei-akiva-israel-palestine_n_5551749.html"><span>called
for</span></a><span> the Israeli Army “to take the
foreskins of 300 Palestinians” amid Israel’s punishing
2014 assault on the besieged Gaza Strip.</span></p>
<p><a
href="https://www.uyghurcongress.org/en/staff/omer-kanat/"><span>Omer
Kanat</span></a><span> serves as the WUC’s Chairman
of the Executive Committee. Kanat helped found the WUC
and has been a permanent fixture in its executive
leadership. The veteran operative has a lengthy
history of work with the US government, from serving
as senior editor of Radio Free Asia’s Uyghur Service
from 1999 to 2009 to covering the US wars on Iraq and
Afghanistan and interviewing the Dalai Lama for the
network. </span></p>
<p><span>In an interview with The Grayzone editor Max
Blumenthal at a 2018 NED awards ceremony in the US
Capitol building, </span><span><a
href="https://thegrayzone.com/2018/08/20/inside-americas-meddling-machine-the-us-funded-group-that-interferes-in-elections-around-the-globe/">Kanat
took credit</a> for furnishing many of the claims
about internment camps in Xinjiang to Western media.
He conceded, however, that the WUC did not know how
the oft-repeated “millions detained” claim was arrived
at aside from “Western media estimates.”</span></p>
<h3>Preparing for a color revolution, WUC offshoots staff
up with national security state operatives</h3>
<p><span>Established in 1998, the Uyghur American
Association (UAA) is a Washington D.C.-based affiliate
of the WUC. A long time grantee of the NED, the UAA
has received millions of dollars in funding. According
to its </span><a
href="https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/541853876"><span>publicly
available tax filings</span></a><span>, the group
works closely with the US government, particularly the
US State Department, Congressional-Executive
Commission on China (CECC), and US Congress’s Human
Rights Commission.</span></p>
<p><span>“The National Endowment for Democracy has been
exceptionally supportive of UAA,” </span><a
href="https://uyghuramerican.org/article/remarks-5th-biannual-congress-uyghur-american-association-nury-turkel.html"><span>stated
Nury Turkel</span></a><span>, former UAA President,
“providing us with invaluable guidance and assistance”
along with “essential funding.” </span></p>
<p><span>Turkel credited the NED with enabling the UAA
increase its credibility and expand its influence.
Among the top achievements he cited was a meeting with
the new Krygyzstan government “within weeks of [the
former government’s] fall from power” following the
US-engineered Tulip “color revolution” which brought a
pro-Western regime to power.</span></p>
<p><span>Speaking at the 5th Congress of the UAA, in 2006,
Turkel confirmed the regime change agenda of the UAA,
UHRP and broader Uyghur separatist movement, </span><a
href="https://uyghuramerican.org/article/remarks-5th-biannual-congress-uyghur-american-association-nury-turkel.html"><span>stating
that</span></a><span> “as we witnessed the ‘Tulip
Revolution’ and the toppling the former government of
Kyrgyzstan, our hopes were again reinforced.”</span></p>
<p><span>The UAA’s leadership consists of US national
security state operators including employees of the US
government, Radio Free Asia, and military-industrial
complex. </span></p>
<p><span>Kuzzat Altay, the nephew of Reibya Kadeer, is the
current president of the UAA. Altay is also the
founder of the Uyghur Entrepreneurs Network, which
claims to offer Uyghur Americans with guidance to </span><a
href="https://www.eventbrite.com/e/uen-100-by-100-project-opening-tickets-47640125899#"><span>“start
their own business”.</span></a></p>
<p>In 2019, his business network has<span> organized an
event </span><a
href="https://www.instagram.com/p/B11ngW6BAf_/"><span>in
collaboration with the FBI,</span></a> the federal
law enforcement agency notorious for its surveillance of
Muslim Americans and ensnaring countless mentally
troubled young Muslim American men in manufactured
terror plots. <span> </span></p>
<p><span>Past presidents of UAA include Kadeer; </span><a
href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/alim-seytoff-2b268927/"><span>Alim
Seytoff</span></a><span>, a former Radio Free Asia
correspondent and current Director of RFA’s Uyghur
Service; and Ilshat Hassan Kokbore, who </span><a
href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/ilshat-kokbore-a34bb956/"><span>has
worked at Booz Allen Hamilton</span></a> since 2008.</p>
<p>Booz Allen is a<span> notorious private </span><a
href="https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/07/us/booz-allen-hamilton-nsa.html"><span>US
military and intelligence contractor</span></a><span>
that rakes in billions of dollars in contracts with
American intelligence agencies. Edward Snowden </span><a
href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jun/09/booz-allen-hamilton-edward-snowden"><span>was
employed at the firm</span></a><span> when he
decided to blow the whistle on the National Security
Agency’s invasive, all-encompassing system of mass
surveillance.</span></p>
<p><span>The main project spun out of the UAA and the NED
is the Uyghur Human Rights Project (UHRP). The UHRP </span><a
href="https://uhrp.org/about"><span>was founded by the
UAA in 2004</span></a> with<span> the </span><a
href="https://uyghuramerican.org/article/uaauhrp-funding-update.html"><span>NED
as the principal source of funding</span></a><span>.
The NED granted the UHRP a whopping $1,244,698 between
2016 and ’19.</span></p>
<p><span>The UHRP is <a href="https://uhrp.org/about">staffed
by WUC leaders</a> like Omer Kanat and Nury Turkel,
along with </span><span>former US government
officials and senior members of the NED. </span></p>
<p><span>Dr. Elise Anderson</span> <span>serves as UHRP’s
Senior Program Office for Research and Advocacy. In
2019, Anderson served as the Liu Xiaobo Fellow,
occupying a position at the Congressional-Executive
Commission on China named for </span><a
href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/dec/15/nobel-winner-liu-xiaobo-chinese-dissident"><span>the
far-right Chinese dissident</span></a><span> who
supported colonialism, US militarism and the
“Westernisation” of China. </span></p>
<p><a href="http://www.elisemarieanderson.com/bio/"><span>Anderson
states</span></a><span> that from 2012 to 2016, she
was “based out of Ürümchi, the regional capital of
Xinjiang,” conducting research for her doctorate. The
extent of her activities in the region are unclear, as
</span><a href="http://www.elisemarieanderson.com/cv/"><span>Anderson’s
CV</span></a><span> indicates that during this time
she was also working for the US government as “Ürümchi
Warden for the US Embassy in Beijing, China,
2014–16.” </span></p>
<p><span>Louisa Coan Greve, the former vice president of
NED, today serves as UHRP’s Director of Global
Advocacy. </span><a
href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/louisagreve/"><span>Greve
formerly worked as Vice President of the NED.</span></a></p>
<h3>Rushan Abbas, the US national security state’s
favorite “human rights activist”</h3>
<p><img data-attachment-id="21783"
data-permalink="https://thegrayzone.com/2020/03/05/world-uyghur-congress-us-far-right-regime-change-network-fall-china/rushan-abbas/"
data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/thegrayzone.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Rushan-Abbas.jpg?fit=771%2C434&ssl=1"
data-orig-size="771,434" data-comments-opened="0"
data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"1"}"
data-image-title="Rushan Abbas"
data-image-description=""
data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/thegrayzone.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Rushan-Abbas.jpg?fit=300%2C169&ssl=1"
data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/thegrayzone.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Rushan-Abbas.jpg?fit=771%2C434&ssl=1"
src="https://i0.wp.com/thegrayzone.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Rushan-Abbas.jpg?resize=771%2C434&ssl=1"
alt="" width="498" height="280"></p>
<p><span>Another influential organization spun out of the
WUC network is the Campaign for Uyghurs. This group is
headed by Rushan Abbas, the former Vice President of
the UAA. Promoted simply as a Uyghur “human rights
activist” by Western media outlets including the
supposedly adversarial </span><a
href="https://www.democracynow.org/appearances/rushan_abbas"><span>Democracy
Now!</span></a><span>, Abbas is, in fact, a longtime
US government and military operative.</span></p>
<p><a
href="https://web.archive.org/web/20181207031224/https://www.isi-consultants.com/rushan-abbas/"><span>Abbas
boasts in her bio of her</span></a><span> “extensive
experience working with US government agencies,
including Homeland Security, Department of Defense,
Department of State, and various US intelligence
agencies.”</span></p>
<p><span>While working for the military contractor L3
Technologies, Abbas served the US government and the
Bush administration’s so-called war on terror as a
“consultant at Guantanamo Bay supporting Operation
Enduring Freedom.” Abbas “also worked as a linguist
and translator for several federal agencies including
work for the US State Department in Guantanamo Bay,
Cuba and for President George W. Bush and former First
Lady Laura Bush”. Like so many of her colleagues,
Abbas enjoyed a stint at Radio Free Asia.</span></p>
<p><span>While Abbas once shared her history of
collaboration with the US government in the open, she
has </span><a
href="https://medium.com/@rsahthion/a-reddit-ama-claiming-to-be-a-uiyghur-quickly-exposes-a-cia-asset-slandering-china-1d667c098b77"><span>attempted
to scrub</span></a><span> biographic information
from her online presence following </span><a
href="https://old.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/e9ad4n/i_am_rushan_abbas_uyghur_activist_and_survivor_of/"><span>a
disastrous publicity appearance</span></a><span> in
December 2019. During a Reddit’s “Ask Me Anything”
question and answer forum, participants blasted Abbas
as a “CIA asset” and frequent US government
collaborator, prompting her attempt to disappear her
bio from the internet. </span></p>
<p><span>Besides collaborating with the US government,
Abbas’ professional experience consists of aiding the
expansion of US capitalism in the global south. She
boasts work with consulting firms such as </span><a
href="https://www.isi-consultants.com/"><span>ISI
Consultants</span></a><span> which “assists US
companies to grow their business in Middle East and
African markets.” Abbas claims to have “over 15 years
of experience in global business development,
strategic business analysis, business consultancy and
government affairs throughout the Middle East, Africa,
CIS regions, Europe, Asia, Australia, North America
and Latin America.”</span><span><br>
</span></p>
<h3><strong>Celebrating the Gray Wolves, proposing US and
Turkish military intervention</strong></h3>
<p><span>Along with their extensive ties to Washington,
the WUC and Uyghur separatist movement has maintained
close connections with the Turkish far-right.</span></p>
<p><span>In 2015, members of the MHP-affiliated Grey
Wolves formerly led by Alparslan Türkeş </span><a
href="https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2015/07/turkey-china-random-violence-become-norm-in-lgbt.html"><span>attacked
South Korean tourists</span></a><span> in Turkey,
mistaking them for Chinese citizens, in protest of the
situation in Xinjiang. </span></p>
<p><span>Turkish MHP party leader Devlet Bahçeli defended
the attacks. “How are you going to differentiate
between Korean and Chinese?” the rightist politician
questioned. “They both have slanted eyes. Does it
really matter?” Bahceli’s racist remarks coincided
with the display of a Grey Wolves banner at party’s
Istanbul headquarters reading, “We crave Chinese
blood.”</span></p>
<p><span>The </span><span>Grey Wolves</span><span> and </span><span>Uyghur
militants</span><span> were blamed by <a
href="https://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/16/world/asia/thailand-suspects-uighurs-in-bomb-attack-at-bangkok-shrine.html">Thailand’s
national police</a> and an <a
href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/susancunningham/2015/08/24/thailands-shrine-bombing-the-case-for-turkeys-grey-wolves/#5065f17d5d3f">IHS-Jane’s
analyst</a> of carrying out a 2015 bombing of a
religious shrine in Thailand that killed 20 people.
The attack was intended as revenge against the Thai
government’s decision to repatriate a group of Uyghur
Muslims to China. </span><a
href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jul/12/uighurs-sent-back-from-thailand-were-on-way-to-join-jihad-says-china"><span>Beijing
had claimed</span></a><span> the Uyghurs were en
route to Turkey, Syria or Iraq to join extremist
groups fighting in the region such as the
al-Qaeda-affiliated East Turkestan Islamic Movement
(ETIM), or Turkestan Islamic Party (TIP).</span></p>
<p><span>Months before the bombing, a group of 200
protesters waving East Turkestan flags </span><a
href="https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/618268/thai-consulate-general-attacked-in-turkey"><span>attacked
the Thai consulate</span></a><span> in Istanbul in
response to the Uyghur repatriation. The group was
reportedly led by the </span><a
href="http://www.rfi.fr/en/asia-pacific/20150709-uighur-deportation-sparks-anger-turkey"><span>Grey
Wolves</span></a><span> and </span><a
href="https://finance.yahoo.com/news/anti-china-sentiment-sweeping-over-161008152.html"><span>East
Turkestan Culture and Solidarity Association.</span></a>
The latter<span> organization was headed by Seyit
Tümturk, who </span><a
href="https://www.uyghurcongress.org/en/introducing-the-world-uyghur-congress/fifth-general-assembly-of-the-world-uyghur-congress/"><span>served
as WUC Vice President</span></a><span> from 2008 to
2016 and belonged to the organization’s founding
pantheon. </span></p>
<p><span>The WUC </span><a
href="https://www.uyghurcongress.org/tr/alparslan-turkesin-doguturkistan-davasina-bakisi/"><span>continues
to publish articles</span></a><span> on its website
that praise and celebrate Alparslan Türkeş, the
far-right, ultra-nationalist founder of the Grey
Wolves and long-time MHP party leader. Its website
also promotes endorsements of East Turkestan
separatism by current leaders of the <a
href="https://www.uyghurcongress.org/tr/mhp-genel-baskani-dr-bahceli-dogu-turkistan-hakli-ve-baki-kalacak-davamizdir/">MHP</a>
and <a
href="https://www.uyghurcongress.org/tr/ulku-ocaklari-baskani-olcay-kilavuz-soydaslarini-ziyaret-etti/">Grey
Wolves</a>.</span></p>
<p><span>While building links with the Turkish far-right,
leading WUC representatives have appealed to Turkish
President Erdogan to take an interventionist role in
China akin to Turkey’s actions in Libya and Syria,
where it supported the regime change efforts of the
US, West and an array of extremist proxy groups. </span></p>
<p><span>Writing in the Wall Street Journal in 2012, </span><a
href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702303513404577353272107433282"><span>Nury
Turkel argued that</span></a><span> Turkey can play
a leading role in “rallying democracies” to pressure
China on Xinjiang: “As a longstanding ally of the US
and a neighbor of Europe, Turkey is uniquely
well-situated to do this.”</span></p>
<p><span>As a first step in this strategy, Turkel proposed
that Turkey “should organize a ‘friends of Uighurs’
conference with democratic allies – similar to the
ones organized for Libya and Syria – discussing
Ankara’s vision and policy objectives with respect to
the Uighur people in China.”</span></p>
<blockquote data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">A Turkish soldier of the
occupying force in NW Syria town of Atareb flashes the
'Grey Wolves' hand sign to an AFP photographer. Grey
Wolves are an openly fascist Turkish ultra nationalist
movement in Turkey who hold deeply racist hatred
towards the Kurds. <a
href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/TwitterKurds?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#TwitterKurds</a>
<a href="https://t.co/j2G61DQVYO">pic.twitter.com/j2G61DQVYO</a></p>
<p>— @Hevallo (@Hevallo) <a
href="https://twitter.com/Hevallo/status/1230146403046961152?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February
19, 2020</a></p>
</blockquote>
<p><span>Other leading representatives of WUC have vocally
endorsed Turkish military interventionism. The
political statements of Seyit Tümturk, who </span><a
href="https://www.uyghurcongress.org/en/introducing-the-world-uyghur-congress/fifth-general-assembly-of-the-world-uyghur-congress/"><span>served
as WUC Vice President</span></a><span>, underscore
the extremist and militant politics behind WUC’s
carefully cultivated image as a “peaceful and
nonviolent” human rights organization. </span></p>
<p><span>In 2018, Tümturk declared that Chinese Uyghurs
view Turkish “state requests as orders.” He then
proclaimed that hundreds of thousands of Chinese
Uyghurs were ready to enlist in the Turkish army and
join Turkey’s illegal and brutal invasion of Northern
Syria “to fight for God” – if ordered to do so by
Erdogan. </span></p>
<blockquote data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Hundreds of thousands Uyghurs
from <a
href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/China?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#China</a>'s
Xinjiang region are ready to enlist Turkish army and
join <a
href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Syria?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Syria</a>'s
Afrin battle to fight for God with an order from
Commander <a
href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Erdogan?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Erdogan</a>,
says Seyit Tümtürk, head of Association for East
Turkishtan Culture and Solidarity in <a
href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Turkey?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Turkey</a>.
<a href="https://t.co/ElgslclOLS">pic.twitter.com/ElgslclOLS</a></p>
<p>— Abdullah Bozkurt (@abdbozkurt) <a
href="https://twitter.com/abdbozkurt/status/972712081312100352?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March
11, 2018</a></p>
</blockquote>
<blockquote data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Seyit Tümtürk, Uyghur leader in <a
href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Turkey?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Turkey</a>,
talks to Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu
directly on the phone when he wanted to lead a rally
before <a
href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/China?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#China</a>
embassy in Ankara. He says Uyghurs consider Turkish
state requests as orders and moves rally nearby Kugulu
Park after talk <a href="https://t.co/jsZIhEjfrg">pic.twitter.com/jsZIhEjfrg</a></p>
<p>— Abdullah Bozkurt (@abdbozkurt) <a
href="https://twitter.com/abdbozkurt/status/1070764427249623040?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December
6, 2018</a></p>
</blockquote>
<p><span>Shortly after Tumturk’s comments, Uyghur
militants dressed in Turkish military fatigues and on
the Turkish side of the Syrian border released a video
in which they </span><a
href="https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/uyghur-militant-filmed-with-turkish-backed-rebels-near-afrin/#"><span>threatened
to wage war against China</span></a>:</p>
<p><span>“Listen you dog bastards, do you see this? We
will triumph!” one fighter exclaimed. “We will kill
you all. Listen up Chinese civilians, get out of our
East Turkestan. I am warning you. We shall return and
we will be victorious.”</span></p>
<blockquote data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Uyghur man standing in Turkish
army fatigue next to troops threatens <a
href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/China?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#China</a>.
The video reportedly shot at the Turkish town of Hassa
on the border with <a
href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Syria?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Syria</a>
as <a
href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Turkey?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Turkey</a>'s
military offensive for <a
href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Afrin?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Afrin</a>
was ongoing. <a href="https://t.co/xXvuUHFa14">pic.twitter.com/xXvuUHFa14</a></p>
<p>— Abdullah Bozkurt (@abdbozkurt) <a
href="https://twitter.com/abdbozkurt/status/976689933342707712?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March
22, 2018</a></p>
</blockquote>
<p>The second installment of this investigation will
detail the shadowy relationship between the WUC’s
lobbying apparatus, Western governments and violent
extremist organizations like the East Turkestan Islamic
Party, which are waging a separatist religious war from
Western China to Syria’s Idlib province.</p>
<div itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" itemscope=""
itemprop="author">
<p><br>
</p>
<div>
<p>Ajit Singh is a lawyer and journalist. He is a
contributing author to <i>Keywords in Radical
Philosophy and Education: Common Concepts for
Contemporary Movements</i> (Brill: 2019). He
tweets at <a href="https://twitter.com/ajitxsingh"
target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"
data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://twitter.com/ajitxsingh&source=gmail&ust=1583528851035000&usg=AFQjCNE-IJDwb8ccY8TUl3e57lZSC_j5tg">@ajitxsingh</a>.</p>
</div>
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