Beginning January, Kazakhstan's "Alatau" television network stopped ist programs in Uyghur and, from March 1, the publication of the Uyghur language newspaper "Yengi Hayat" (The New Life) was also stopped. The Kazakhstani authorities motivated the closures by the economical
necessity.

"Alitagh", the Uyghur section of "Alatau" station, had been broadcasting daily one-hour programs for almost two decades.

The newspaper "Yengi Hayat", published in the Uyghur-Arabic script, began its circulation in 1970 by the decree of the Central Committee of the Soviet communist party. "Yengi Hayat" was targeting, as ist audience, the Uyghur population of Central Asia, who fled from East Turkistan in late 50s and early 60s, late 80's and 90's.

Before the collapse of the Soviet Union, the newspaper was published three times a week. After gaining Kazakhstan's independence, along with other former Soviet Republics, the newspaper became a weekly paper while its size was reduced from 12 to 8 pages, and, afterwards, it
appeared only bimonthly. Nevertheless, the patient Uyghur readers were thankful for the newspaper's existence, regardless of the size, since it served as a source of information on the Uyghur community in Central Asia.

Recently, the government of Kazakhstan forcibly deported to China three young Uyghurs, Ilyas Zordun, Eli Khudaberdi, Khamit Mehmet, who last year fled East Turkistan to seek political asylums in Kazakhstan. The three Uyghurs now face torture and executions in China. Kazakhstan has signed the UN convention on Refugees and was supposed to grant political asylums to these people. This incident, in particular, demonstrates that the human rights is a secondary issue to the current administration of Kazakhstan.

The Uyghurs and Kazakhs has been living together in peace and cooperation for centuries, with mixed marriages, and they have wholeheartedly been helping each other in hardships. Unfortunately, the recent actions of the Kazakhstani authorities do not reflect the sense
of ethnic, cultural and religious brotherhood that the Uyghur and Kazakh peoples feel to each other.