East Turkestan Federation (Dogu Turkestan Federesyoun-DTF), Uyghur Academy and East Turkestan Republican along with other Uyghur NGOs staged a protest on Wednesday in Instanbul against China’s Zero Covid Policy.
The protest started at 11 am at Fatih Sarachane Park, near Aksaray, Istanbul.
The gathering was held to protest against the Chinese action of locking doors of homes in areas of East Turkestan on the pretext of precautions against the surge in Covid-19 cases. This measure is reported to have led to the death of some Uighurs.
Earlier, on Tuesday, the President of the East Turkestan National Assembly, Seyit Tumturk, announced the protest and press statement under the DTF banner stating that “China, using the virus and quarantine as an excuse, had imprisoned all the Uyghurs in East Turkestan in their homes…It is about killing a nation with hunger by imprisoning all the Uyghurs in East Turkestan in their homes and locking the doors from outside…Shall we remain silent about this cruelty?… Let’s be the voice of the oppressed against oppression.”
The gathering started at around 11 am and was attended by around 250-300 people including Seyit Tumturk, DTF leaders including Mahmud Emin Damollah and Habibullah Kosaini and local representatives of some political parties including the Islamist Saadet Party.
Turkey and East Turkestan anthems were played. The statement mentioned that the protestors had gathered to oppose the Chinese-backed genocide taking place in East Turkestan. Besides the inhumane policies of assimilation, violence, oppression and fear that the People’s Republic of China has implemented in East Turkestan for the past 73 years, “our people (Uyghurs ) have also been subjected to persecution and genocide in Nazi-style concentration camps since 2016. Information leaked through social media shows that our people are in a difficult situation and starving in their own homes under the pretext of quarantine…We appeal to our Turkish brothers & sisters to raise their voices against this inhumanity…We appeal to international organisations and countries..”
Meanwhile, video footage circulating on social media showed that in a home in Guma District (Pishan County) in Hotan Prefecture, Xinjiang, the doors had been sealed while there were still people inside the home. Further, the residents of the village are threatened that the doors of those who go out of their houses will definitely be sealed.
Addressing the gathering, Seyit Tumturk regretted that the “houses of our people have also become camps….the nation is crying from hunger…still their heart’s cries do not touch us…..when will we get together if not today….how can we save our motherland if we can’t stand (united) for ourselves….how can we protect our people…”
Other speakers also reiterated that the Chinese regime is persistently following the policies of illegal detention and genocide in East Turkestan under different pretexts. Uyghurs need to keep fighting against this Chinese oppression.
They called for a ban on Chinese products being produced in East Turkestan by Uyghur forced labour and for international brands like Volkswagen to withdraw from there. Speakers also appealed to democratic and Islamic countries to come together to counter Chinese policies in East Turkestan before it is too late.
Among the speakers, one Naunijan, a resident of Kyrgyzstan and a grandson of Ghani Bahadur who fought for the East Turkestan Republic in the 1940s, came especially to participate in the protest in Istanbul. Ramazan, a local representative of the Saadet Party also attended.