Uyghur Stories: 1997 Sultan-Eriq Crackdown in Kashgar

By Abdurahim Parach

Abdurahim Parach

In the early morning of May 25, 1997, in Sultan-Eriq village, under the jurisdiction of Qizilboy township, Payzivat County, leaflets and posters containing slogans opposing the Chinese government and its repressive policies toward Uyghurs were observed.

These slogans were handwritten with various markers and posted on the roofs of more than 50 households in the village, as well as on the left and right sides of the gates of the village primary school and the village committee compound. In addition, two large posters were displayed on the main road in front of the school compound and the village committee building. Made of long white cloth approximately one meter wide, these posters contained messages including: “Oppose forced birth planning, protect our future generations!” and “Expel the Chinese and eliminate oppression and inequality!”

The slogans on the leaflets included seven main messages, such as: “Down with the Chinese Communist Party!”, “Release political prisoners!”, “Abolish religious restrictions!”, “Stop relocating Chinese settlers!”, and “End forced labor and extortion!”, written on more than 50 pieces of paper.

The first person to notice the slogan “Down with the Chinese Communist Party!” posted on the side of his yard was Turdi Ela, a former secretary of the village. He ran to the village committee and reported the matter to the local police station via the only available communication tool at the time, a landline telephone. Police and armed personnel quickly arrived, rounding up the entire village population (around 250 people) into the village courtyard. No one was spared—not even women in childbirth or seriously ill individuals—and every home was thoroughly searched.

All villagers, men and women of all ages, were interrogated individually over three continuous days. During interrogation, they were threatened and intimidated, forced to write statements multiple times, and had their leaflets confiscated. Despite this, authorities found no leads and initially detained 12 people, taking them to the Payzivat County detention center.

On the morning of May 28, a group of nearly 40 police and armed personnel arrived in the neighboring village of Yangiaymaq to conduct similar searches and interrogations. During the two-day operation, four people were detained and taken to the county, but no substantive results emerged. At this time, the Kashgar Prefectural Party Committee Secretary, Yao Yongfeng, issued strict orders: “Apply the same method throughout the village, and if necessary throughout the entire county, to identify the perpetrators.” Additional police and military forces were deployed.

On May 30, inspections began in the nearby Apakhoja village. Armed personnel forcibly gathered all residents, young and old, into the village courtyard and subjected them to repeated interrogation and forced writing of statements.

After technical analysis of the leaflets, three individuals were initially arrested, including Abdurishit Mollaq (48 years old), who was beaten severely. Suspended by his arms on a pipe in the village office and struck with a rod until his body was battered, Abdurishit Mollaq eventually admitted to writing the slogans and named two accomplices: Jamal Samet (47) and Siyat Eli (56). Technical analysis confirmed his handwriting. Jamal Samet and Siyat Eli were also subjected to harsh interrogations. During this process, Siyat Eli’s right ankle was fractured by repeated blows from a whip. Ultimately, both admitted their involvement and were sent to the county detention center, where they endured further abuse until July 5.

At the end of August, a verdict was issued: Siyat Eli planned the actions, Abdurishit Mollaq wrote the slogans, and Jamal Samet executed them. All three were sentenced by the Kashgar Prefectural Judiciary to three years of “re-education through labor” and sent to a labor camp located in a remote area of Konishahar County. Initially, they were forced to work 10 to 14 hours daily alongside hundreds of other Uyghur political prisoners. Later, Siyat Eli was transferred to a sand yard near a Kashgar city dairy farm, while Abdurishit Mollaq was sent to a stone crushing factory in Ulughchat County, Kizilsu Prefecture. Jamal Samet, whose injuries worsened during interrogation, was eventually released to his family. The three endured severe torture, hard labor, and psychological pressure until their sentences ended in June 2000.

Note: This account is based on direct interviews conducted by the author with participants and witnesses.

About the author: Abdurahim Parach is an editor at Uyghur Post. In 2023, he successfully completed his postgraduate studies at the Department of Turkic Language and Literature, Erciyes University, with a dissertation titled “Chinese-style Comparative Place Names in Kashgar Prefecture.” In 2018 and 2019, two poetry collections, “Stateless Melodies” and “Echoes of Longing”, were published by Onur Publishing in Turkey. His poems have appeared in Turkish-language journals including Kumru and Güncel Sanat. In 2023, his article “Long Vowel Words Formed by the Loss of R and Y Sounds in the Kashgar Dialect” was published in the Turkish journal Uluslararası Uygur Araştırmaları Dergisi.

Note: This account is based on interviews conducted directly with participants and witnesses of the events.

This article was originally published in Uyghur Post and has been translated and republished in Uyghur Times.

About the Author:
Abdurahim Parach, editor of Uyghur Post, completed graduate studies at Erciyes University’s Department of Turkic Language and Literature in 2023 with a dissertation titled “Comparative Chinese Place Names in Kashgar Prefecture.” In 2018–2019, two collections of his poems, Homelandless Song and Huzur of Separation, were published in Turkey. His work has also appeared in journals such as Kumru and Güncel Sanat. In 2023, his article on phonetic patterns in the Kashgar dialect was published in the Uluslararası Uygur Araştırmaları Dergisi in Turkey.