The Washington-based East Turkistan Government-in-Exile has rebuked US President Joe Biden and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, accusing that the two leaders did not adequately address the issues of the minority community in China’s Xinjiang region, at the ongoing United Nations General Assembly (UNGA). On Wednesday, Biden addressed the UN General Assembly highlighting a multitude of critical issues across the globe.
On the subject of human rights, President Biden stated, “today, in 2022, fundamental freedoms are at risk in every part of our world, from the violations in Xinjiang (East Turkistan) detailed in recent reports by the Office of the UN High Commissioner.” In a statement, Salih Hudayar, Prime Minister of the East Turkistan Government in Exile, said Biden’s speech at the UN General Assembly was weak and he failed to effectively highlight and condemn China’s ongoing genocide against Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, and other Turkic peoples in East Turkistan. “We plead with the US Government to take stronger actions to end China’s ongoing genocide by bringing East Turkistan to the agenda of the UN Security Council and tabling a resolution at the U.N. General Assembly,” he added.
In a statement, East Turkistan Government-in-Exile explained that although “violations” in “Xinjiang” was mentioned, President Biden failed to call out China’s genocide in East Turkistan explicitly. Furthermore, they said Biden did not clarify the specific ethnic groups facing genocide and other crimes against humanity, particularly the Uyghurs. In January last year, the US State Department under the Trump Administration officially designated China’s atrocities against Uyghur, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, and other Turkic peoples as genocide.
The designation was continued under the Biden Administration, with US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken reaffirming the US stance on China’s actions in East Turkistan. “The global East Turkistdiaspora is greatly disheartened by President Biden’s failure to adequately address the ongoing humanitarian crisis in East Turkistan at the UN General Assembly,” said President Ghulam Yaghma of the East Turkistan Government in Exile. “We call on ALL nations to cease downplaying China’s ongoing genocide against Uyghurs and other Turkic peoples in Occupied East Turkistan as mere “human rights violations,” he added.
On Tuesday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan also made brief comments on the issue of Uyghurs during his speech addressing the UNGA. He stated, “we are sensitive to the protection of the fundamental rights and freedoms of Muslim Uyghur Turks, without harming China’s territorial integrity, understanding of one China and sovereignty rights.”
In a statement, East Turkistan Government-in-Exile said Erdogan’s speech supporting the so-called One China policy and so-called “territorial integrity” was perceived as damaging East Turkistan’s struggle to regain independence and was subsequently condemned by the global East Turkistani diaspora. “We strongly condemn Turkish President Erdogan’s damaging statement at the U.N. General Assembly,” said Vice President Abdulahat Nur of the East Turkistan Government in Exile. “East Turkistan is an Occupied Country; restoring East Turkistan’s rightful independence is the only way to ensure the existence, fundamental rights, and freedoms of Uyghurs and other Turkic peoples,” he added.