Who Is Riza Samed?

By Tahir Imin

Dec 31, 2024

Riza Samed, Veteran Uyghur journalist and community leader in Kazakhstan who dedicated his life to preserving Uyghur culture and advocating for national rights dies at 86.

Riza Samedi (1938 – December 29, 2024)

Riza Samedi (also known as Riza Samed) was a respected Uyghur journalist, community leader, and advocate for Uyghur national rights, particularly within the Uyghur diaspora in Central Asia. Over the course of his life, he became a prominent voice for Uyghur cultural preservation, national identity, and political awareness among Uyghurs living outside their ancestral homeland.

Early Life and Family Background

Riza Samedi was born in 1938 in Ghulja (Yining), East Turkestan—a region known today as the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of northwest China. He was the eldest son of Ziya Samedi, a celebrated Uyghur writer and cultural figure who also served as a colonel in the armed forces of the short‑lived Second East Turkestan Republic during the 1940s. His father’s literary and nationalist legacy deeply influenced Riza’s own life and work.

Following the consolidation of Chinese Communist control over East Turkestan in 1949, members of Uyghur nationalist movements—including Riza’s family—faced political repression. In the late 1950s, Ziya Samedi was detained during anti‑nationalist purges, and in 1961 the family fled to Soviet Kazakhstan amid rising Sino‑Soviet tensions.

Education and Early Career

Before leaving East Turkestan, Riza Samedi worked as a middle‑school teacher in Ghulja. After relocating to Almaty, Kazakhstan, he continued teaching for a period and then transitioned into media work. He worked in Uyghur‑language television and radio broadcasting within the Soviet republics of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan until 1968.

Journalism and Advocacy

Samedi’s journalism career expanded significantly when he joined the Uyghur service at the State Committee of Television and Radio Broadcasting of the Soviet Union in Moscow, where he reported and worked for roughly two decades. His work focused on issues of Uyghur identity, culture, and the political struggles of his people. He became known for organizing and conducting interviews on Uyghur advocacy topics and for his role in bringing attention to the Uyghur cause through Central Asian media channels.

He became a member of the Union of Journalists of Kazakhstan and later served as an advisor to the World Uyghur Congress (WUC), an international advocacy organization for Uyghur rights and self‑determination. Colleagues and fellow activists regarded him as a mentor and leader, especially for younger generations involved in diaspora activism.

Leadership in the Diaspora

After retiring from formal media work in 2002, Samedi dedicated himself to community leadership among the Uyghur population in Kazakhstan—estimated in the hundreds of thousands—and throughout Central Asia. He worked to preserve Uyghur language, culture, and national consciousness in the diaspora. This engagement included cultural organizing, support for education, and encouragement of international advocacy efforts.

Peers described him as a bridge between generations: someone who not only had lived through pivotal moments in Uyghur history—such as the 1944 East Turkestan Republic—but who also inspired younger activists to continue the struggle for recognition and rights on the global stage.

Later Years and Legacy

Riza Samedi remained active well into his eighties, publicly speaking at international gatherings such as the World Uyghur Congress General Assembly and engaging with diaspora communities about the future of the Uyghur people. His enduring message emphasized hope, perseverance, and the belief that progress toward self‑determination was possible despite ongoing repression and displacement.

Samedi passed away from an illness on December 29, 2024, at the age of 86 in Almaty, Kazakhstan. His death was mourned by Uyghurs and Kazakhs alike, who recognized his decades‑long contributions to journalism, culture, and national advocacy. Leaders within the Uyghur community described him as a national leader and educator, whose work helped sustain Uyghur identity across generations.