Central Aisa

Since December 31, 2022, videos of an Uzbek citizen named Muradjan visiting Yining, Urumqi, Kashgar, Yerkan, and other regions of our motherland started appearing on the Zerkalo Vostoka (Mirror of the East) YouTube channel.

Five Central Asian countries are participating in the 2022 Beijing Olympics in China. The Chinese Foreign Ministry welcomes the participants, Uyghur Times Uyghur language edition reports.

Kazakh State TV has paraded Vikram Ruzahunov, an Uyghur jazz musician from Kyrgyzstan, in front of the cameras for a coerced confession. Ruzahunov had multiple cuts and bruises on his face while appearing on the screen and ‘confessing’ that someone had paid him 200 dollars to enter Kazakhstan.

Russia has detained two journalists, Nazgul Kenzhetay and Emin Karaçak, from a Turkish news website, GZT. The two were arrested on Dec. 16th on alleged charges of “espionage” after they traveled to the Sakha Republic to record a vlog on Turkic communities and cultures, GZT reports.

ALMATY, Kazakhstan – Police in Almaty in Kazakhstan have detained six protesters outside the Chinese Consulate. The protestors had demanded the release of their relatives whom China had arbitrarily detained, Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty reports.

The Cooperation Council of Turkic Speaking States has officially changed its name to the Organization of Turkic States at the 8th Summit of the Turkic Council held in Istanbul last week.
According to Global Times, the name change is in line with Turkey’s geopolitical ambitions. Since the failed negotiations to join the EU, Ankara has started building diplomatic connections elsewhere, namely in the Middle East and Central Asia.

East Turkistan government in exile and the East Turkistan National Awakening Movement have filed the third attempt at International Criminal Court. The new evidence meets the ICC’s requirements as it includes insider witness testimonies from Uyghurs.