Uyghurs and other East Turkistanis staged a demonstration in front of the White House on Sunday to commemorate the 26th anniversary of the 1997 Ghulja massacre. Similar demonstration were staged in Canada, Bangladesh,  and other countries under the aegis of  the East Turkistan Government in Exile (ETGE) and the East Turkistan National Movement (ETNM). The protestors urged the international community to act swiftly to end “China’s genocide” in occupied East Turkistan and restore its freedom and independence.

Haider Jan, the Community Affairs Coordinator for the East Turkistan National Movement, said, “The thousands Uyghur and other Turkic protesters in Ghulja demanded an end to the racial discrimination they experienced daily, as well as an end to Chinese colonization and occupation of East Turkistan.

“East Turkistan Government in Exile President Ghulam Yaghma urged Canada and the United States to take a more proactive approach to resolve the China-East Turkistan conflict and bring an end to the genocide by addressing its root causes,”Ghulam Yaghma said in the press release. adding, “We urge Canada, the United States, and other governments to recognize East Turkistan as an occupied country, like Tibet, and to aid East Turkistan and its people in ending China’s illegal occupation.”

East Turkistan Government in Exile (ETGE) Vice President Abdulahat Nur thanked Canadian Parliament for approving MP Sameer Zuberi’s motion to resettle 10,000 Uyghur and other refugees from East Turkistan. He urged other nations to follow Canada and give asylum to Uyghurs and other Turkic refugees from East Turkistan. ETGE Foreign Minister Aziz Sulayman praised the US for shooting down the Chinese balloon.

The ETGE in the press release accused the Chinese government and its occupation forces of “brutally suppressing” the peaceful Ghulja demonstration on February 5, 1997, which led to the deaths of more than a hundred Uyghurs and arrests of over 1600 Uyghurs.

Chinese government had executed more than 200 Uyghurs who had been arrested for participating in the Ghulja demonstration. On 5 February 1997, the Chinese government and its occupation forces brutally suppressed the peaceful Ghulja demonstration, resulting in the deaths of over a hundred Uyghurs and the arrests of over 1,600 Uyghurs, according to the press release.

By early 1999, the Chinese government had executed over 200 Uyghurs who had been arrested for participating in the 1997 Ghulja demonstration. In the press release, the ETGE said that China has “intensified its colonization, genocide, and occupation efforts in East Turkistan” since the Ghulja massacre in 1997, according to a report in Beijing Bulletin. (SAT)