Çin Halk Cumhuriyeti’nin Kuruluşundan Tiananmen Olaylarına Kadar Uygur Özerk Bölgesi (Doğu Türkistan) (1949-1989)

Abstract

The people of Uyghur Autonomous Region (East Turkestan), an ancient Turkish homeland, is presently grappling with survival challenges imposed by the Chinese Communist Party. The region was predominantly inhabited by Turks during the reigns of the Huns, Göktürks, Uyghur Khaganate, Karakhanid State, Mongol Empire, Chagatai Khanate, and Saidiya Khanate. Nevertheless, its current demographic composition reveals a significant Chinese population. Following the occupation of the area by Chinese General Zhou Zho-tang in 1879, the area underwent the formation of two sovereign Turkish states in 1933 and 1944, respectively. Following their conquest of the entirety of China in 1949, the Communist forces extended their occupation to East Turkestan as well. East Turkestan’s administration was seized by the Communist Party in the same year that Chinese General Tao and the head of the regional government, Burhan Shahidi, both surrendered. A movement of liquidation emerged in the early years, targeting individuals who possessed the capacity to challenge the established system. Subsequently, measures were implemented to eradicate the Communist ideology entirely. Priority was given, among the various initiatives of the Communist Party, to instill in the local populace the concept of communist loyalty. Furthermore, due to its perception of the regional religious and national distinctions as a threat, it initiated a military conflict with the aim of eradicating them. The Communist regime methodically executed its settlement policy in an effort to alter the demographic composition of the region by redistributing Chinese immigrants there. Consequently, the present percentage of the populace comprising individuals of Chinese ancestry surpasses fifty percent. The policies of the Chinese Communist Party in Uyghur Autonomous Region, including exploitation, discrimination, and demographic shifts, are the focus of this study. Despite the research’s scope being limited to the period preceding the Tiananmen events of 1989, which signified the start of a new era in China, it is significant that the policies implemented by the present Chinese Communist Party have advanced to the point of genocide.