Rebiya Kadeer responded diplomatically to Turkish President Erdogan’s speech about Uyghurs at the United Nations:
We, the Uyghurs in exile, were pleased that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan mentioned Uyghurs at the 77th UN General Assembly. Yes, although Erdogan did not mention in his speech the heartbreaking reality that over 3 million Uyghurs are struggling for survival in camps, one of our most tragic situations;
Although he did not remind that hundreds of thousands of Uyghur refugees abroad have been deprived of even phone communication with their families back home for 7 years; although he did not describe the dangerous situation of a sharp decline in the birth rate among the Uyghur population in the last 3 years, we were still happy that our name was mentioned.
Because China’s current Uyghur policy – both in diplomacy and domestic policy – has the ultimate goal of making the world forget the Uyghur issue and hiding the Uyghur genocide they are committing from the world’s eyes. It was for this purpose that China used all its diplomatic power last year to delay the release of the UN experts’ Uyghur report for a year, and blocked the discussion of the Uyghur issue at the UN Human Rights Council; every year and every month, it organizes “Xinjiang visits” for allied countries and organizations, showing artificial scenes, denying the crime of genocide, and even making brotherly and neighboring countries applaud this crime. Therefore, Erdogan’s mention of our name at the UN meeting is an important event, a brave position that gives us inspiration and hope.
Yes, we are happy, but our happiness is not at a high level, because we were mentioned after the issues of Palestine, Ukraine, Syria, and even Rohingya. We are happy, but it’s not enough, not strong enough because in Mr. Erdogan’s speech, we did not hear a sharp tone towards China, an urgent appeal to the international community, or even a single sentence with a concrete demand and initiative to change the reality.
Nevertheless, Mr. Erdogan’s not forgetting the Uyghur issue, raising a topic that China, an ally on several international issues, does not want to hear, has pleased not only us but also countries and organizations that advocate for justice and fairness in the world, especially people who support the oppressed. This courage demonstrated Erdogan’s sincerity and bravery in his call for justice and fairness.
Because as intelligent and conscientious people know, if blood is flowing on the battlefields and conflict zones in the world today; in the camps and prisons of East Turkistan, blood is turning into pus, bodies are rotting; if mothers on battlefields are crying while clinging to the bodies of their children, Uyghur mothers cannot even get the bodies or news of death of their children, and are thrown into prisons for crying. On battlefields, bodies are being counted, in the Uyghur genocide, bodies cannot be counted, China is not allowing counting.
Our pain is several times worse than the current war zones. Our issue deserves to be raised in a high tone, it needs urgent calls.
We wish for our brother Turkey to play an even more active role on the international stage, may Allah keep Turkey safe and strong!
Rebiya Kadeer, Leader of the Uyghur National Movement
